At 10 a.m. on May 14, 2014, Cannes International Airport was full of people, and passengers from all over the world were excited to come to this small city.

They want to embark on a romantic cinematic journey.

In the corner of the departure hall, the atmosphere is a little heavy.

Li Shengyao and Chen Hao stood on one side, and Lao Mouzi stood on the other side.

Li Shengyao came over this time, not to observe the mental state of the passengers at Cannes Airport, but to see off Lao Mouzi.

Just yesterday morning, "The Return" was screened in Cannes, but the effect was far less than expected.

Lao Mouzi was full of confidence, thinking that he might be able to win an award in Cannes.

Unexpectedly, this well-prepared work did not receive much recognition from peers.

The vast majority of film critics and directors agree that "The Return" is a good work, but this film is far from Lao Mouzi's classic movies of the past, and there are no surprises.

In short, if it is an ordinary director's production, it should be encouraged and rewarded.

However, this is Lao Mouzi's movie, and his peers are more disappointed.

Movie word-of-mouth came out quickly.

Since you can't win an award, there's no point in staying in Cannes.

Lao Mouzi decided to leave Cannes and return to China.

"Director Li, now you are left in Cannes, come on."

Lao Mouzi looked at Li Shengyao and Chen Hao, and was envious in his heart, what a pair of beautiful people.

If he and Gong Li could get along back then, would they be so sweet?

Li Shengyao waved his hand, "My film style is too commercial, and I guess it's not good." ”

Just yesterday, John Woo and Jiang Wen both left with their respective crews.

John Woo's "Taiping Wheel" was screened without any splash, and some film critics publicly commented that such a vulgar commercial film should not participate in the Cannes Film Festival in the future.

As for Jiang Wen's "One Step Away", the evaluation is slightly better than "Taiping Wheel", but it is not much better, the vast majority of people think that they can't understand it, and feel that Jiang Wen's aesthetics are too self-conscious.

Under such public opinion, there is no need to wait for the awards party, John Woo and Jiang Wen both know that there is no hope for the movie, and the two of them left Cannes in a hurry with the crew.

No one expected that before the screening, the two of them were in high spirits, and after the screening, they fled in embarrassment.

John Woo and Jiang Wen both approached Li Shengyao and suggested that he should not transmit the actual situation here back to China.

Li Shengyao agreed.

So there was news that "The Peace Wheel" shined in Cannes, and "One Step Away" moved the French.

Both films will be released this year's Chinese New Year.

Now it's up to them to see how much money they can cheat.

Li Shengyao did not send Jiang Wen and Wu Yusen, he planned to send Lao Mouzi, mainly because he had the closest relationship with Lao Mouzi.

Lao Mouzi heard Li Shengyao's words and looked over, "Yours is a song and dance film, maybe you can fight a bloody way." ”

"Okay, I'll borrow your good words."

At this time, the airport radio sounded, and the assistant prompted that he was about to board the plane, Lao Mouzi nodded, struggled for a moment, and then said: "Director Li, the stakes of my declining energy have no strength left to impact the three major European ones, you make persistent efforts, take advantage of your youth, and make more excellent movies."

Now there are three major Chinese movies in Europe, and it's up to you. ”

"No, Section Chief Jia, aren't they all there Lou Ye?"

"They're almost at the end, their style is hard to last, only your films, ever-changing, and constantly maturing."

Where is ever-changing, it's just copying different movies.

When Li Shengyao heard this, his face was slightly hot.

Lao Mouzi then waved away.

This old man should have been more than 1.7 meters when he was young, but later he got older and his height shrank a lot.

Li Shengyao looked at Lao Mouzi's old appearance, and felt a little emotional and irritable in his heart.

Wu Yusen, Jiang Wen, and Lao Mouzi all left.

Will he be next?

"Let's go, go back."

The two then got into the car, Li Shengyao was not in a very good mood, too lazy to go to the movies, and planned to go back to the hotel to sleep.

Chen Hao sat quietly next to him.

The scenery outside the window is beautiful, and under the bright sun, Cannes is like a city in a painting, with a sense of dream.

Chen Hao held Li Shengyao's hand, thinking about the bits and pieces of so many years, and suddenly said, "Are you worried about "La La Land"? ”

Li Shengyao didn't want to admit it, "It's okay, it's not worrying." ”

Chen glanced at Li Shengyao, pursed his lips and smiled, and then leaned into Li Shengyao's ear and whispered, "I feel that you have changed in the past few years. ”

"Has it changed?"

"Well, when you used to make TV series, you were very ...... Brave, no, it is a very strong sense of competition, whether it is the production of the TV series, or publicity, and the subsequent sales, you will strive to do your best.

You have been making movies in the past few years, you have been a lot lazy, you finished filming, and then you handed things over to God, you are not even too lazy to promote, just like "Dalian by the Sea", Lu Han and Zhang Songwen are running around, but you didn't go.

Now that you've made a name for yourself, you're lazy, and you don't want to work hard. ”

When the words fell, Chen Hao looked at Li Shengyao faintly.

Not only big directors, but also senior actors, and even traffic stars.

After too much aura, it often becomes shrinking, not as sincere and confident as before.

She wasn't sure if Li Shengyao would be angry when she heard this.

However, she still said it, because she preferred the energetic Li Shengyao to the old and unsharpened Director Li.

When Li Shengyao heard this, he turned his head to look at Chen Hao in a daze, looking at this familiar woman.

In the bright light, the wrinkles and capillaries on her face were very clear.

The years have left traces on her face, but compared to more than ten years ago, she is more attractive at this time, with a calm and mature beauty.

He looked at it for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and quietly thought about the content of Chen Hao's words.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was indeed too stable and too lazy.

He is no longer the little director who used to make TV series, he will not think about the promotion of the movie, and he will not strive for the honor of the movie.

He finished the movie every time and handed it over to God.

It seems that if you try to fight for it, it seems very low.

He even looked down on the Oscar lobbying behavior and felt that it was not interesting to spend money on the Oscars.

There is really no need to spend money on lobbying.

But in Hollywood, which is full of talents, the heart of striving for the top is worthy of recognition.

He has been in the big three in Europe, so he does not dare to go to Hollywood to compete with the directors of the beautiful country, although there are various reasons.

But the real core is that he wants to be stable.

He lost his heart for competition.

At this time, Chen Hao's words made him suddenly think through a lot of things.

He took Chen Hao's hand, "That's right for you, I've been too comfortable in the past few years, and I've lost my competitive spirit." ”

He paused for a moment, looked out the window, and then said: "Then let's start to change from now on, starting with "La La Land", this time I set myself as a small director of making TV series, and I want to be busy for "La La Land". ”

After the words fell, he took out his mobile phone and contacted Li Lianhua and Yue Ming, and the four of them went to watch a movie together on behalf of "La La Land" later.

The Cannes Film Festival is full of journalists.

In order to increase their popularity, many crews are together even when they watch movies.

Lee Shengyao has never cared about this in the past, and now he plans to start with such a small thing to attract publicity for "La La Land".

Soon after, they came to the agreed venue, and then the four of them walked in generously.

Sure enough, a reporter stepped forward to interview.

Li Shengyao was full of wind and naturally accepted the interview.

……

Chen Hao's words made Li Shengyao wake up to the fact that he planned to show stronger initiative and competitiveness in the coming days.

He began to participate in more film screenings, give more interviews to reporters, and ask makeup artists to put on his makeup to show him in the best possible state of mind in front of the public.

In this case, they ushered in the screening of "La La Land".

With Lee Shengyao's coffee position and his high-profile style in Cannes in recent days, "La La Land" has attracted more attention.

The venue for the film screening is the Tai Kwun, which is a hall that can accommodate 1,000 people.

In such a hall, it is natural to attract more people, but if you don't catch this wave of audiences, such a venue screening is not necessarily a good thing.

It's like the opening film of this Cannes Film Festival - "Princess of Monaco".

The heroine of this movie is Nicole Kidman, who is very beautiful and has a very good reputation in Europe and the United States.

However, the film was shown in the hall, and the effect was not satisfactory.

Critics thought it was a very mediocre movie, and even Nicole Kidman had an unnatural expression because of Botox.

The opening ceremonies of the Cannes Film Festival have not been good, just like Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris", which was looked down upon by many film critics.

However, like "Princess of Monaco", which is considered by many to be a mediocre work, it still happens relatively rarely.

At this time, "La La Land" was played in the hall, and seeing more and more audiences pouring into the theater, Li Lianhua and Yue Ming were a little nervous.

If it is placed in the hall, will it affect the viewing experience?

Will later viewers really be able to read the subtitles?

Many thoughts flashed through the hearts of the two of them.

And Li Shengyao stood on the side, looking confidently at the audience behind, he nodded slightly, looking very frank.

He soon saw Jacob, the chief seal of the Cannes Film Festival, and Jane, the chief jury of this year's festival. Campion.

Li Shengyao didn't care about the other people's gazes, and strode over, "Mr. Zhuxi, Miss Jane." ”

Jacob was very happy to see Lee Shengyao, and stepped forward to hug Lee Shengyao, "Lee, you are back, you are welcome at Cannes." ”

Li Shengyao nodded, "Yes, I brought a song and dance film this time, I hope you will like it." ”

This year's Cannes Film Festival has determined the style, that is, to pick excellent literary films.

Simple. Campion thought Lee would be depressed, but at this point Lee looked very good.

It doesn't seem to be affected.

She likes energetic and very confident young people, so she smiled and nodded, "Okay, Lee, we'll watch carefully, I hope you can surprise us." ”

"Definitely."

Lee then calmly left, and he noticed that Chief Jia, as well as Kim Do-yeon, Sophia. Coppola.

These people are all members of the jury, and Li Shengyao did not shy away from it, and walked over generously to greet them.

Li Lianhua and Pan Yueming both felt that Li Shengyao was different, and seemed to like talking more than before.

The two of them don't know why, but they both think that this kind of Li Shengyao is more attractive.

When they saw Lee Shengyao's smile, they were more confident in the film.

Lao Mouzi, Jiang Wen, and Wu Yusen have all gone back, and they may not be so embarrassed.

In such a state of mind, the movie was officially screened, and then the entire theater fell into a joy.

The music style of "La La Land" is similar to that of Li Shengyao's previous life, most of them are mainly relaxed and happy, especially when the male and female protagonists get along, it is even sweeter.

The dancing and soundtrack are all very sweet.

The choreography is also cheerful and romantic.

These elements are not dominating, independent existence, but completely integrated into this story, you will not have such a feeling when watching the movie, after watching it, in retrospect, it is full of atmosphere.

At this point, Jacob smiled, he was a man who loved movies.

He knows very well that in the sixties of the last century, song and dance films were very popular, and many song and dance films appeared at that time.

But then there were fewer and fewer excellent song and dance films.

After entering the millennium, song and dance films have become a small category.

At this time, a young director like Li Shengyao is willing to try song and dance films, which is really rare.

Of course, Jacob was even happier.

Lee Shengyao's films at the Venice Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival are all traditional feature films, although they are very exciting, but they really do not feel amazing.

At this time, this song and dance film is easy to attract traffic and bring topics.

Although this year's festival is dominated by literary films, Jacob hopes that the festival will have a variety of topics that can attract the attention of the world.

Simple. Campion sat next to Jacob, and she didn't think about it that much.

She focuses more on films.

"La La Land" tells the love story of a couple of men and women, and the story seems a little cliché, but the idea is good.

Love and dreams, how to choose.

Outside of the content, it's the filming of the movie.

Chongqing is very beautiful and a charming city, and the movie was shot in Chongqing, in addition to a lot of dreams, there is also a magical sense of cyberpunk.

In addition, the music and dance of the movie are all very reasonable and just right, so that the audience can better immerse themselves in the story.

In the end, the hero and heroine meet again, and there is a montage setting, if they had chosen to be together, would they be happy?

This association is very exciting.

Campion looked at it and nodded repeatedly.

and then to Li Lianhua's complex gaze at the end, she remembered it all.

When the film ended, both Campion and Jacob stood up and clapped along with the general audience.

The applause at the scene was very warm, and everyone looked at Li Shengyao.

He took a deep breath, then waved his hand, and led Li Lianhua and Yue Ming to the stage.

"The preparation period for "La La Land" is one and a half years, and the official shooting and post-production are half a year, and this film took us two years, I hope everyone will like it."

(End of chapter)