At 6 o'clock in the evening on September 27, 2013, he made a big splash at the Venice Film Festival and was praised by many film critics, helping Zhang Manyu win the Best Actress and Li Shengyao winning the Best Director "Three Billboards" was officially released in the mainland, Hong Kong Island, Wanwan, and Southeast Asia.

The promotion period of this movie is very short, and Li Shengyao does not promote it much, mainly Zhang Manyu and Ren Dahua go to participate in various programs and go to various cinemas to promote the movie.

At the beginning, the big guy didn't notice this phenomenon, and later the big guy realized that Li Shengyao didn't seem to care much.

Is it because you are afraid that you will be embarrassed?

A reporter went to interview Li Shengyao, and Director Li directly responded that he has been busy recently and has no time to promote the movie.

As for whether it will be a shame to have a low box office, Li Shengyao said that the cost of this film is not high, and the advertising sponsorship in the early stage has been profitable, and no matter how much the box office of the movie is, it will be earned.

There is no shame in the low box office, it can only be said that it is inconsistent with the current audience preferences.

He said that no matter what the box office is, he can accept it, and thanks all the staff for their efforts.

After a set of official speeches, although they did not say it explicitly, Li Shengyao's meaning was still very clear.

The box office of the movie may not be very good, and Director Li has long given up.

The vast majority of the media didn't care much about this, and a few media grabbed it and wrote a few articles about Hei Li Shengyao.

These articles did not make a big splash.

This year, Chinese films did not win much at the Berlin Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival.

In the just-concluded Venice Film Festival, "Three Billboards" was powerful enough, and public opinion was biased towards Li Shengyao at this time.

And the above is also optimistic about Li Shengyao.

Therefore, the vast majority of the media are praise, and Li Shengyao's humble words still attracted many media interpretations and praises.

In addition, "Three Billboards" still had 30% of the film schedule on the first day.

Although Lee Shengyao doesn't promote it much, there are still many people who know about this movie.

Among them, those who pay attention to movies include Lao Mouzi and Zhang Mo.

When Li Shengyao was preparing for "Parasite" and "1937", Zhang Mo followed suit and worked as an assistant director in the crew.

Later, Lao Mouzi was preparing for a new movie, but she did not continue to follow the crew, and "Dalian by the Sea" and "Three Billboards" did not study in the crew.

She was quite concerned about this.

She feels that Li Shengyao's crew is more scientific and efficient, and she can learn more from Li Shengyao.

Moreover, Dapeng, Bi Gan, and Wen Muye often follow Li Shengyao, and there are like-minded people.

will not be like Lao Mouzi's crew, several assistant directors are uncles.

I paid attention to "Dalian by the Sea" and "Three Billboards", and I thought about coming over to see the premiere.

Lao Mouzi also wants to go over to watch a movie, he wants to see if "Three Billboards" is good.

Li Shengyao has never hidden it, many reporters interviewed him, saying that he was the first director in China, and Li Shengyao responded that he was not good enough.

Then it will be said that Lao Mouzi has two Golden Lion Awards, a Golden Bear Award, and then a Silver Bear Award, a Silver Lion Award, and a Cannes Jury Prize.

Six classic works, the best in the Chinese film and television industry.

Li Shengyao's meaning is that he is not as good as Lao Mouzi, and when he surpasses Lao Mouzi, he may be satisfied.

This is not about treating Lao Mouzi as an enemy, but as a target.

Lao Mouzi is not a narrow-minded person, so he naturally won't be angry, but there will still be some comparisons in his heart.

He has been paying attention to Li Shengyao, thinking to see if Li Shengyao's strength has improved.

I am even more interested in "Three Billboards".

Under such circumstances, on the first day of the release of "Three Billboards", Lao Mouzi and Zhang Mo's father and daughter bought tickets, intending to watch this film with an excellent reputation at the Venice Film Festival.

"This time, Director Li produced "Three Billboards" in a hurry, it was just produced, and he participated in the Venice Film Festival in less than half a month, Dad, what do you think of Director Li's performance this time?"

Lao Mouzi shook his head, "I don't know, let's see." ”

Both father and daughter wore caps and masks, and it was difficult for others to recognize them in the dimly lit theater.

At this time, someone behind him discussed, "Li Shengyao, this is really fierce enough, I heard that "The Roman Ring Road" is a documentary, and the level is just like that, if it weren't for the fact that the Italian people haven't won the best film at the Venice Film Festival for several years, and they plan to keep this award for themselves this year, then this year's best film is "Three Billboards". ”

"Really? It's really disgusting, and the home advantage is obvious. ”

"No way, I want grades."

"Li Shengyao is just unlucky, otherwise he would have won a Golden Lion Award, then he would have surpassed Lao Mouzi."

"Not exceeded, Lao Mouzi has more awards."

"Yes, sooner or later, how old is Li Shengyao, in more than ten years, he will be the first director in China."

"It's hard to say, directors have a peak period of creation, just like Lao Mouzi, Brother Kaizi, who was so powerful when he was young, and the movies he made were full of aura, but then he couldn't do it, Li Shengyao can keep it, then it's no problem, if you can't keep it, it's difficult."

When Zhang Mo heard this, she secretly glanced at Lao Mouzi, and saw that she was looking directly at the big screen, knowing that Lao Mouzi actually heard the conversation behind her, but Lao Mouzi didn't have any expression, so she didn't bother to say anything.

Lao Mouzi did hear the discussion of the audience in the back row.

Although he didn't care that Li Shengyao wanted to catch up with him in terms of honor, but in the end, he was a man, and he still had a bit of arrogance in his heart.

The movie he is preparing now is called "The Return", which is adapted from Yan Geqin, and he personally likes this story very much.

invited Chen Daoming and Gong Li to be the male and female leads, and the film will participate in next year's Cannes Film Festival.

I heard that Lee Shengyao's "La La Land" will also participate in next year's Cannes Film Festival, so let's wait and see.

Of course, Lao Mouzi has an introverted personality, and he is not a person who likes to fight with tongues.

I had a plan in my heart and didn't say it.

At this moment, the big screen lit up, and "Three Billboards" officially began.

Lao Mouzi sat up straight, he wanted to see how far Li Shengyao had reached now.

"Parasite" can be said to be a masterpiece film, very complete in every way, and the film has little to blame.

But making such a complete, textbook-like film is very expensive for the director.

Many directors tend to only make one or two of these films in their lifetime.

It's not that the stories of the movies they made later are not good, but that their energy, inspiration, thinking, and aesthetics have declined, and they can't make such excellent movies.

Parasite is outstanding.

It would be great if "Three Billboards" could consistently reach the level of "Parasite".

A few more similar movies may win awards.

The whole theater was a little quieter.

On the big screen, Zhang Manyu and William Chan rode home together, and saw three vacant billboards, and Zhang Manyu's eyes moved slightly.

flashes of footage, but Zhang Manyu's facial expressions are so rich, rare in the world film industry, that the audience still sees her inner changes.

Lao Mouzi nodded secretly.

He cooperated with Zhang Manyu, and later wanted to cooperate with Zhang Manyu, but unfortunately Zhang Manyu refused.

This time starred in "Three Billboards", judging from the scene just now, Zhang Manyu's treasure knife is not old, no wonder she can stabilize the Venice Film Festival actress, this acting skills have nothing to say.

Then Zhang Manyu came to the small town billboard company, said that he wanted to rent the billboard, and then slapped the advertising words on the table.

The rest of the plot is all about a mother who has lost her daughter, and she looks very pitiful.

Her daughter's life was completely ruined after several years of murder, but now the police department is still inactive, and her daughter's case is even forgotten.

She resisted a little and tried to alert the police, but was targeted by the townspeople and the police.

The heroine at this time is very pitiful and vulnerable in the eyes of the audience.

Just when everyone was looking forward to the effect of these three billboards, the police chief found the heroine, he negotiated with the heroine, and the two people went toe-for-tat, and suddenly the police chief spurted a pool of blood.

It turned out that he had a terminal illness and could live for half a year at most.

It turns out that they have been working very hard to solve the case, but they just can't help it.

At this time, the heroine is still aggressive, the heroine has become a strong person, and the police chief has become a weak person.

The character's momentum is offensive and defensive.

This setting can be said to be full of tension and very exciting.

Lao Mouzi saw it and couldn't help but nod.

When he was younger, he was often involved in writing screenplays, but after the millennium, he almost didn't do such things.

It's not that he doesn't want to, but he doesn't have enough energy.

The brain didn't turn so fast, and the story I wrote wasn't so good, so I had to give up my screenwriting job.

And Lee Shengyao's movies are all written by himself.

With this bridge, Lao Mouzi wants to praise Li Shengyao, and the setting is really awesome.

He subconsciously said to Zhang Mo: "You study hard, such a plot is exciting."

Zhang Mo pouted.

Why don't you learn it yourself, why do you ask me to learn.

Is this something you can learn if you want to?

There are so many students in the choreography and directing department, and there are a few people in the world who can write such a script.

The film continues.

The heroine is so strong, but the police chief is in a weak position.

And when the residents of the town learned about the police chief's illness, more people rejected and opposed the heroine.

Someone threw glass at her house late at night, and someone threw rotten eggs at her while she was shopping for groceries.

What almost broke down even more was that she ran out of money, and the lease of the billboard was coming soon.

Just when the heroine was anxious about money, a fire ignited and burned three billboards.

When the fire burns, the heroine and her son go to put out the fire.

In front of the raging fire, the heroine is weak like an ant.

At this time, the momentum between the characters changes again.

The heroine is at a disadvantage, and it is not only the police chief who is fighting against her, but also the townspeople.

That's the tension of the film.

As the plot develops, the strength and weakness continue to change, leaving the audience uncertain and causing emotional fluctuations.

When Lao Mouzi saw this, he couldn't help but say: "This plot is really well set up, this movie will maintain this level later, it's really a pity that it didn't win the best movie."

Zhang Mo was stunned when she heard this, her level was not enough, she just felt that this paragraph was exciting, but she didn't feel anything else.

The movie continues, and in the plot later, the situation of the heroine is almost the same as the previous one, it is constantly changing, sometimes in a weak position, sometimes in a strong position.

The summary is full of tension.

It's definitely not the kind of plot where the grandson is killed and the grandfather runs out to take revenge.

Instead, according to the character's personality, step by step, the contradictions gradually accumulate, and finally push the plot to the climax, so that the audience has a refreshing spiritual journey with the plot.

In the end, the police chief committed suicide, and the heroine and the police chief's followers still intersected, and there was a process of confrontation to understanding.

After going through so many things, the heroine is more considerate of the difficulties of the police.

And the police in the town also understand the heroine's mentality better.

In the end, they didn't find the murderer, but this incident didn't break them, and they still held on to their belief that they wanted to find the real murderer.

At the end of the movie, although the real culprit was not found, on the whole, if you look at it from the heroine's standpoint, the heroine of this movie has grown up and is very cool.

When the lights of the theater were turned on, everyone came back to their senses and applauded.

Zhang Mo clapped his hands and asked Lao Mouzi in a low voice, "Dad, what do you think?" ”

Lao Mouzi thought for a while, and then said: "Very good movie, Li Shengyao's current production level, I think it has reached its peak, "Three Billboards" and "Parasite" are very complete, very accurate, and there is almost nothing to find fault with."

He paused for a moment, and then said: "What restricts Li Shengyao in the future is not how to tell a good story, but the research and innovation of film techniques. ”

Many directors are very good, but they can't continue to win awards, not because their works are not good, but because their works have not broken through.

The judges are not fools, they prefer the kind of directors who have obvious breakthroughs.

It's actually similar to other industries, the NBA's best player selection, there are very few people who win the best player in a row, because you need to get better and better every year, 30 points per game this season, and 31 points per game next season.

Lao Mouzi feels that judging from "Parasite" and "Three Billboards", Li Shengyao's films have almost no shortcomings, and they have reached the top level, and whether they can win awards in the future depends on whether there is a breakthrough.

He suddenly thought of "La La Land", which Li Shengyao was preparing, and "Dalian by the Sea", which had already been produced.

If "Dalian by the Sea" and "Three Billboards" are of the same level, then it is impossible to win the Best Picture Award.

Because Li Shengyao's feature films, compared with "Parasite", have not improved significantly, the judges will not support them.

However, "La La Land" is a song and dance film, which seems to be another field.

Could it be that Lee Shengyao discovered this, so he chose to produce "La La Land" to seek a breakthrough.

Thinking of this, Lao Mouzi couldn't help but feel a tightening in his heart.

Next year, "The Return" will participate in the Cannes Film Festival with "La La Land", is "The Return" really enough to fight?

(End of chapter)