In Cannes in May 1993, "Farewell My Concubine" was born and won the Palme d'Or in one fell swoop, filling the gap in this honor for Chinese films, and this award greatly encouraged practitioners in the Chinese film and television industry.

After about ten years, the directors of the mainland, Hong Kong Island, and Wanwan have produced masterpieces one after another, and they have won high honors in the three major battles in Europe.

As far as Asia is concerned, except for island countries that can beat China in international film awards, other countries are far inferior.

Including Korean films that are touted by many filial sons.

Lao Mouzi has two Golden Lion Awards, one Golden Bear Award, one Silver Lion Award, one Silver Bear Award, and one Cannes Jury Award.

There is no need to add Wong Kar-wai, Kai Zige and others, in the three major in Europe, his honor alone overwhelms all the directors of Korean films.

As far as art films are concerned, mainland directors are actually very good.

However, after entering the millennium, Lao Mouzi, Kai Zige and others began to commercialize films.

Mainland artworks can only rely on Wang Xiaoshuai, Jia Section Chief, Lou Ye and others.

They are naturally talented people, but compared with Lao Mouzi and Wong Kar-wai, their talent is a bit worse.

After the millennium, there were many fewer honors for mainland art films.

Lee Shengyao has been named Asia's most successful commercial film director by the media, and he no longer needs to prove himself in the field of commercial films.

Now that he's in Cannes, he wants to make a difference in another area.

He hopes to make films that can win awards and box office.

"1937" was an attempt, the film had not yet been released, won the Palme d'Or, and completed half of the task.

Lee Shengyao was very happy.

At this time, he stood on the podium and enjoyed the applause of the audience.

He felt that the light was a little dazzling, and even a little hot, but standing on a high place, looking at more than 2,000 people head-on, and seeing the eyes of admiration, surprise, bitterness, and regret, he felt very refreshed.

When Terrence, the director of the Tree of Life, finished his speech, Lee Shengyao took the microphone and said: "Thank you to all the people in the production team of "1937", thank you to our great ancestors who successfully resisted the invaders, thank my motherland, and give me a safe and peaceful environment to grow up. ”

"This is our second Palme d'Or in China, after 18 years, to be honest, I think it's a bit long."

He paused for a moment and continued: "I know a little bit of the history of Cannes, Cannes has never had a director who has won the Palme d'Or three times, Cannes has never had a director who has won the Best Director award four times. ”

"I hope I can come more often in the future and I can be the one who sets records."

In the history of the Cannes Film Festival, there have been three directors who have won two Palme d'Or.

These three bigwigs are Coppola, Shohei Imamura, and Alf.

There is also a pair of brothers, the Coen brothers, who have won the Best Director award three times.

This is the record of the Cannes Film Festival.

It is undoubtedly very difficult to break these records.

But you won't die if you talk about it.

Li Shengyao's words drew thunderous applause from the audience.

Director Li then raised the trophy in his hand and walked off the stage with Terrence.

"Director, it's so awesome, you still have to win the Palme d'Or."

When Zhang Yi saw Li Shengyao coming, he couldn't help but say something.

"This award is nothing special, the trophy weighs two pounds, and it's normal to win it a few more times."

……

After the award ceremony, the organizers had a celebratory banquet.

Lee Shengyao won the Palme d'Or, so naturally he wanted to go over to celebrate.

He asked his assistant to return to the hotel with the trophy, and then took the crew of "1937" to the celebration banquet.

His appearance immediately attracted the attention of the host on the spot, and then asked him to come to the stage to give a speech.

Li Shengyao said a few more words of thanks.

After he stepped down, groups of actors, directors, and producers held up wine glasses to chat with him, take photos, and ask him for autographs.

This situation lasted for about twenty minutes, and the scene was better.

Dapeng has the potential to be a dog's leg, and stood next to him to take pictures of Li Dadao.

In the photo, a group of elites in the world film industry surrounded Li Shengyao in the middle and looked at Li Dadao with admiration.

"Director, do you see these photos showing your style?"

"It's okay."

"Director, I want to film too."

"Okay, let's start with a skit first."

When Dapeng was stunned and Bi Gan was envious, a little old man with a wine glass walked towards Li Shengyao with a smile.

When the others saw the little old man, they all automatically got out of the way.

This little old man with a pair of black-rimmed glasses, a small man, with a small head, a bit like Chaplin, is the master of today's cinema - Woody Allen.

The old man's temper is not bad, although "Midnight in Paris" is not good in Europe, he knows that the film has little hope of winning awards, but he still came to the closing ceremony.

He's a man who has a beginning and an end.

"Hi Lee, congratulations on winning the Palme d'Or, you are the king of Cannes tonight."

Li Shengyao is not Lao Zhan, he likes to call himself the king, he smiled, raised his glass and touched Woody Allen.

"How does it feel to win the Palme d'Or?"

"Very good, I feel like I've just floated up to the clouds."

Woody Allen's style is obvious, and his films are like Naomi Kawase's films, which belong to the kind of movies with a petty bourgeois atmosphere, with faint characters, faint conflicts, and beautiful scenery.

Their cinematic setting is the main character, and the character events are the supporting characters.

The story of such a film is a little bland, it is difficult to deeply reflect human nature, class, and social changes, and it is almost impossible to win the best film.

But it's very popular with academics.

It's like Woody Allen's film, either the opening ceremony film of the Cannes Film Festival or the opening ceremony film of the Berlin Film Festival, even if it can't win an award, the organizers of the major film festivals are still very welcome.

Woody Allen has won an Oscar for Best Director, but his films have never won any of the top three European awards.

When the old man heard this, he looked at Li Shengyao enviously, and then said, "I just came over there, and there is a very delicious grape cake over there, you can try it." ”

"I'll see later."

The old man said this as if the two were good friends who had known each other for a long time.

Li Shengyao didn't react at the first time, he came back to his senses, and then responded.

Woody Allen continued: "I watched 'The Hangover' and I thought it was a bit noisy, but 'Border Killer' was different, although the gunshots kept going, it wasn't noisy, and it was very cool, and as for '1937', it was even cooler, and I can imagine that when the cinematographer was holding a Steadicam stabilizer and chasing two male actors, it must have been very magical, and it was something worth remembering." ”

Li Shengyao nodded, "It was really interesting during the shooting, we watched the photographer keep chasing the two actors, the work was very tiring, and we needed to change people constantly. ”

Woody Allen nodded, "It's an amazing movie, I'll tell my friends and family to watch it." ”

"Thank you."

The old man was too enthusiastic, and Li Shengyao felt that this old man should have other ideas.

"Li, I run around in Europe, I'm in London, in Barcelona, in Madrid, in Paris to make movies, I heard that there are many beautiful cities in China, and I hope I will have the opportunity to go to China to make movies in the future."

"Of course, you will be more than welcome."

The old man's movies are still very good overall, no matter what the story is, the picture is absolutely beautiful, and his movie can be used as a city propaganda film.

Woody Allen heard Lee Shengyao's words, the smile on his face became even stronger, and then he said his true purpose, "Lee, I'm going to go to Rome to make a movie next, do you have time?" I want to work with you. ”

"Work with me?"

"Yes, I know you're very good at writing scripts, and I want to work with you on a screenplay."

Woody Allen is also a creative master, he has won three Academy Awards for Best Screenplay, and most of his films are written by himself.

This is somewhat "similar" to Lee Shengyao.

However, the old man is a real talent, and Director Li is learning to adapt.

Working with such a script master, there should be a lot of growth, if it was ten years ago, Lee Shengyao would be happy, but now there is no need.

Li Shengyao smiled when he heard this, and then said: "Allen, I'm glad you have such an idea, I also want to work with you, but I don't have time, I'm in the creative period now, I have a lot of ideas, and I want to keep making movies." ”

When Woody Allen heard this, there was some regret in his eyes, and he quickly disguised this, "Lee, can you give me some advice?" ”

"Of course."

"I wanted to make a romantic comedy film, to shoot it in Rome, like Roman Holiday, but it was too difficult, the classic film can't be replicated, I just have some ideas now, but I have a feeling that I don't know where to start."

In Lee Shengyao's previous life, Woody Allen will next make a romantic comedy filmed in Rome, this movie is called "Love in Rome".

The movie is decent, and in Woody Allen's movie, it is not good, it is not bad, it can only be said to be average.

When Li Shengyao heard this, he said with a smile: "Movies like "Roman Holiday" cannot be copied, and it is actually difficult for us to make new love movies, I think you can conceive more characters, more couples, such as the story of three or four couples." ”

Woody Allen's small eyes hidden behind black-framed glasses flashed, and he nodded again and again, "Lee, your idea is very good, a couple really can't meet my task structure, shoot more love stories, arrange more couples, this is a very good direction." ”

This is the story structure of Love in Rome.

What Li Shengyao admires most about Woody Allen, a little old man, is not that he can shoot beautiful scenery, but that he has been in the industry for decades and still maintains a very high creative outlook, and he can still direct movies at the age of eighty-seven.

Being a director is not an easy job, others are 87 years old lying in bed, carrying a urine bag.

And this little old man can still direct the shooting on the set.

Although in Li Shengyao's previous life, the little old man was riddled with scandals, and was even banned by Hollywood later, Li Shengyao admired him.

Director Li then revealed a few pieces of information according to the storyline of "Love in Rome" in his previous life, which shocked Woody Allen very much.

"Lee, you are a genius screenwriter, I provided a scene, there is no character structure, but you can complete a rough story idea in a few minutes, and the quality is very high, very interesting, so rare, you are the best screenwriter I have ever seen, I came to Cannes this time, and the luckiest thing is to meet you."

Li Shengyao smiled modestly.

People nearby saw the picture of Lee Shengyao talking to Woody Allen, like a teacher instructing a student.

The big guys didn't expect that Lee Shengyao was so young, and the seventy-six-year-old Woody Allen would listen carefully.

is worthy of being a talented director who won the Palme d'Or.

……

Woody Allen chatted with Lee for about half an hour, and then left excitedly, saying that he would go back and record all these inspirations.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to ask, "Li, let's work together on a movie, it must be very interesting." ”

"Alan, I really don't have time, let's talk about it later."

After Woody Allen left, Director Li's surroundings became lively again, actors, directors, and producers all wanted to know Director Li and wanted to have a deep chat with him.

At this time, John from Raymond Pictures came over with a wine glass.

When the star directors saw this big guy, they automatically got out of the way.

As the manager of Europe's largest film company and the largest cinema company, his schedule is still very large.

"Lee, congratulations, you really won the prize."

John is still the same as Lee Shengyao when he met before, wearing a neat suit, meticulously combed hair, and erect body, looking at it, he knows that he is an elite.

Li Shengyao nodded, "Hello." ”

John looked at Li Shengyao's calm appearance and sighed in his heart.

As the manager of Europe's largest film company, he has been walking at the three major film festivals of Cannes, Berlin and Venice all year round.

Like Li Shengyao, a young, talented, award-winning director, and such a calm director, there is no same.

He secretly praised it in his heart, and was even more sure that it was the right choice for him to contact Li Shengyao.

Such a young and excellent director is worth wooing, Director Li is only thirty-one years old, and there are infinite possibilities in the future, not to mention that Li Shengyao has a huge industry in China, and the two sides are considered peers.

"Lee, Warner can be released in Europe, America, Asia, and even Southern Magnesium, but they can't release it in Africa."

The boss of the Black Continent is France, and in the Black Continent, France is better than the beautiful country.

When Li Shengyao heard this, he smiled and nodded, "It shouldn't be." ”

"How about selling the rights to 1937 in Africa to Raymond Pictures for a million euros?"

The movie could not have been released in the Black Continent, and for Li Shengyao, this million is to give money.

Li Shengyao didn't expect John to be so generous this time, he smiled and nodded, "Of course you can, I'll discuss it with Warner, and then I can sign a contract." ”

John clenched his fists with joy, he did not hide his joy.

"Li, if there is an opportunity, we would love to work with you, you can write the script, or you can be the director."

John just said hello in advance, in case there is really such an opportunity in the future, there is a reason, so that it is easier to chat.

"No problem, I also hope to work with Raymond Pictures."

If that's it, Li Shengyao is naturally willing to say good things.

John talked about some more signing details, and the two sides finally agreed to talk again tomorrow morning, and he left with a glass of wine and a smile on his face.

The European actors and directors who are next to Director Li are used to it at this time.

Whether it is Woody Allen or the manager of Raymond Pictures, they are all big guys, and they are very polite to Director Li, and listening to Director Li is as serious as listening to a class.

I have to say that Director Li is awesome, although he is so young, he is already a ceiling-like existence in the film and television industry.

……

After an hour of the celebration banquet, the second half of the festival was almost over, the atmosphere was better, the band on the scene was more casual, playing some cheerful little dance music, and many stars danced.

Li Shengyao held a wine glass and sat on the side to watch.

At this moment, Dapeng, who had been holding his mobile phone to take pictures of Director Li, closed his mouth.

Dapeng had been telling Li Shengyao before that he had seen whom, but suddenly stopped talking, Li Shengyao was a little surprised, and turned his head to look over.

I saw Eva Green, who was wearing a purple dress and revealing white flowers, rich and generous.

This is not the top in appearance, and his facial features are not as good as Sophie Marceau.

But she is very amorous, casually frowning, smiling, squinting, all seem to have a strong temptation.

The actresses of the younger generation in Europe are very mediocre and have very few characteristics.

Eva Green is undoubtedly the most prominent.

In Li Shengyao's heart, Eva Green is more beautiful than the widowed sister.

Dapeng was fascinated, and it was understandable.

"Lee, congratulations, you're shining in Europe tonight."

When Li Shengyao was in the beautiful country, he met Eva Green, but at that time, it was a polite greeting, and he could barely be regarded as meeting.

"Thanks, you're very beautiful tonight."

Eva Green then sat down next to Lee Shengyao, and she wore perfume, which was quite strong, but it smelled good.

"'1937' is very good, I think it's the best film of the festival, and I'm sorry that there is no role for me, and if I could, I would really like to play such a movie."

"If there is a suitable role in the future, I will look for you."

"It's decided."

Eva Green smiled playfully and then asked, "Do you want to dance together?" ”

"I can't dance."

"It's okay, you just put your arm around my waist."

The beauties are invited, and it is difficult to resist the hospitality.

Li Shengyao then came to the center of the venue with Eva Green under the envious gaze of Dapeng and Bi Gan, with his hands around his waist and dancing gently.

"You exercise a lot, I can feel the muscles."

Eva Green whispered.

Li Shengyao can also feel that this woman's legs are long and straight, and she is full of strength, which is the figure he likes.

"Li, is there any arrangement for the evening?"

Seeing that Li Shengyao didn't speak, Eva Green asked again.

She had a lot of men, but she hadn't tried an Asian man who had won the Palme d'Or, and she wanted to try it.

Lee was a little surprised, he felt that Eva Green was much more open than Amanda and Lively Ly.

The thought that Eva Green was French relieved.

"There is no arrangement for the evening."

Eva Green smiled and didn't continue the conversation.

Next Eva Green said about the situation in Hollywood.

She said that she is very similar to Li Shengyao, working in a beautiful country, but she does not like the culture of a beautiful country very much.

Outside of work, she returns to France, where she feels is where she really lives.

She also said that she encountered some troubles in Hollywood, which made her cry and laugh.

Li Shengyao listened with a smile, occasionally echoing a few words.

Neither of them is a beautiful country, although they have different cultures, they will complain about the beautiful country and Hollywood, and it seems that the two people have a lot of similarities.

After the dance, the two of them were still sitting together and chatting.

Until the end of the celebration feast.

Eva Green put down her glass, she thought Lee Shengyao would say something special and send out an invitation, but she didn't.

Her heart was full of puzzlement, didn't this man want to sleep with her?

She couldn't care about so much, and planned to take the initiative.

The moment Lee lifted the trophy on the podium, she decided to try this man from the East.

"Lee, here's my number."

Eva Green then shoved a note into Lee Shengyao's hand, "If you want, you can find me tonight." ”

As the words fell, Eva Green twisted her waist and left.

Li Shengyao glanced at the small note, and then stuffed it into his pocket.

"Director, little note, little note."

Roc stood aside, seeing clearly and envious, how he wished Eva Green had put the note in the palm of his hand.

At this moment, several actresses came over one after another to greet Director Li.

It's all long skirts with high heels, either backless or bearish, all rich and generous, and they will definitely not starve the children.

All of them are very charming, and when they leave, they all leave small notes.

Dapeng was very surprised, envious, and expectant at first, but then he was silent.

Although they are all Asian men, the gap is really big.

Born human, I'm sorry.

I am a Luther, and Director Li is rich and handsome.

Soon after, Lee Shengyao led the rest of the "1937" crew into the car and returned to the hotel together.

Li Shengyao, Dapeng, and Bi Gan were in one car, and Sun Li, Xiao Mingge, and Zhang Yi were in another car.

Dapeng wiped away the tears of envy, and then asked, "Director, who do you choose tonight?" ”

Without waiting for Li Shengyao to answer, Dapeng continued: "It must be Eva Green, she is the goddess of France." ”

Li Shengyao has a total of six notes in his pocket, all of which were given by female artists, including Beautiful Country, France, Intentional Stay, and Spanish Duck.

He was actually a little excited, especially Eva Green, who was a good teacher at first glance, and he really wanted to learn French.

However, considering the several female companions in the country, he still plans to endure it, at least not to provoke other women this year.

"Don't talk nonsense, I'm not that kind of person, I'll go to sleep when I go back, talk about business tomorrow morning, and return to China in the evening."

Tomorrow morning, we signed a contract with Raymond Pictures for the broadcast rights of "1937" in Africa.

Rest in the afternoon, and fly home in the evening.

The news that "1937" won the Palme d'Or has been sent back to China.

Lee received more than 200 text messages, all congratulatory messages, congratulating him on winning the Palme d'Or.

There are also some text messages in addition to congratulations, sending out invitations, hoping that Director Li can appear on their show, or the party.

He will return to China tomorrow night, and then put on some programs to promote "1937", and then arrange for "1937" to participate in the Shanghai Film Festival, and the next thing is to fully promote this film, which will be officially released on July 1.

The highest box office of domestic films in the Chinese market has reached more than 600 million, and Li Shengyao hopes that "1937" can get a box office of 500 million or 600 million with the influence of the Cannes Palme d'Or.

(End of chapter)