Robert De Niro debuted in the 1960s, but he truly became internationally famous in the 1970s.

"The Godfather Part II" in 1974, "Taxi Driver" in 1976, "New York, New York" in 1977, "The Deer Hunter" in 1978, "Raging Bull" in 1980, "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​in 1984...

Since the 1970s, many of the films he has starred in have achieved great success. He has been a frequent visitor to the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, and he has always been soft on awards.

Such high-quality output also gained him huge international reputation and became an international superstar with strong appeal.

At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Robert De Niro attended with "The War". Naturally, he came to win the best actor title at the Cannes Film Festival.

From this perspective, he can be regarded as Xu Guanwen's competitor, and a very strong competitor.

"Okay, stop reading! You are also a candidate for Best Actor after all. Isn't it embarrassing to go and ask for autographs?"

After Robert De Niro had dinner over there, many people went to take photos with him on the terrace, and he was very gracious and agreed to them all.

Seeing this, Xu Guanwen looked in the direction of Robert De Niro eagerly, and Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but mock him.

Xu Guanwen's face was stern. In order to relieve his embarrassment, his eyes pretended to glance around the terrace.

It was dinner time, and there were many diners in the terrace restaurant, most of them blond foreigners. The two of them, Asian faces with yellow skin and dark eyes, became an eye-catching presence sitting here.

Then he glanced in the direction of Robert De Niro and said with envy: "Hollywood's influence is still strong!"

In Hollywood in the 1980s, although special effects blockbusters had not conquered cities around the world, the United States' economic and military strength had swept the world since World War II, and its cultural output was still unrivaled.

Xu Guanwen is considered a movie star in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, but in Cannes, under the backdrop of Robert De Niro, he can only be regarded as an unknown person.

If there is a BGM at this time, it must be "I was 18 years old, my alma mater dance, standing like a minions".

"Don't be envious. After "The Truman Show" is screened, you will get the same treatment in Cannes!" Lin Chaoyang said to Xu Guanwen.

Xu Guanwen glanced at Lin Chaoyang strangely, wondering where his overwhelming confidence came from.

"Have some confidence in yourself!" Lin Chaoyang said again with firm eyes.

Xu Guanwen took a deep breath. He felt that Chaoyang was right. It didn't matter whether he could win an award or whether he could be so popular. First, he must not lose his momentum and show his confidence.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked confidently.

"Go back to the house and sleep!"

Xu Guanwen:......

It was impossible to sleep. Zou Wenhuai disappeared after landing. He actually went to contact the media for the crew.

On the day when the film festival is about to open, the small town of Cannes has been filled with all kinds of noise since early in the morning, and the media is even more active.

At around eight o'clock in the evening, Lin Chaoyang and his party rushed to the Masu restaurant in the old town of Cannes, where Zou Wenhuai arranged an interview with the crew. The interview media was from France's "Television Survey".

Before and after the film festival, reporters from major media are invited by the crew because the crew needs the momentum of these media.

"Television Survey" is a well-known magazine in France. As you can tell from the name, its original direction was to introduce TV programs.

This magazine was founded in 1947. After nearly 40 years of development, it has gradually developed into a comprehensive cultural magazine integrating literature, film, drama, television and other artistic content.

In terms of professionalism in the field of film and film criticism, it certainly cannot compare with magazines such as Cahiers du Cinema, Featured Films, and French Cinema, and its influence at the Cannes Film Festival is also a little behind.

But there is no way, reporters from these well-known movies and film review magazines are only willing to interview those crews with famous directors and international superstars.

The cast of Golden Harvest and the cast of "The Truman Show" are very popular in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, but they have no reputation at Cannes, a European film festival.

The reporter of "TV Overview" is named Aurelion. Unlike those professional film magazines whose interviews mainly focus on professional fields, his interview questions are more like those of entertainment reporters.

Aurelion didn't know much about "The Truman Show" at first, and he only talked about some interesting things about the movie and the opportunity to participate in the exhibition.

Until he asked director Xu Anhua, "What do you think the chances of this movie winning an award are?"

Xu Anhua said calmly: "Winning a film depends on the taste of the judges, but I think our film deserves a significant award!"

Aurelion was a little surprised when he heard this. Regardless of the interview just now or his previous experience in interviewing Asian filmmakers, these people have always been very humble. He did not expect Anhua Xu to say this with such confidence.

"Can you tell me why you think it deserves a significant award?" Aurelion asked with interest.

Xu Anhua replied calmly: "Because this is France, the birthplace of absurdist drama. If you have seen "The Truman Show" you will know that it is an outstanding absurdist art work."

As a Frenchman, Xu Anhua's compliments naturally made Aurelion feel good about him, and also made him pay more attention to the movie "The Truman Show".

"If it is true as you say, then it does deserve a heavyweight award." Aurelion said with a smile.

His interest in "The Truman Show" was aroused by Xu Anhua's words. In the following interview, he asked many questions about the plot and characters of the movie. The more he listened, the more interesting and fascinated he became.

At the end of the interview, he couldn't help but say: "I am becoming more and more curious about this movie now. I really hope to see it as soon as possible!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said to him, "You will see it soon."

The interview lasted for almost two hours. It was already past 11 o'clock in the evening when Lin Chaoyang and his party said goodbye to Aurelion and returned to the hotel.

Several people were about to go upstairs, but were suddenly stopped by two people with Xiangjiang accents.

This time "The Truman Show" was shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival, the Hong Kong press took it very seriously, and several media outlets even sent reporters.

The people who stopped Lin Chaoyang and his party were two reporters from Ming Pao and Ta Kung Pao. One of them was Shen Xicheng who had interviewed Lin Chaoyang.

Shen Xicheng and Shen Xicheng were not journalists invited by the film festival. They came to Cannes at their own expense. There are many reporters like them in Cannes.

Selected films from most small countries and regions will attract some reporters from their own countries and regions to follow up and report.

Lin Chaoyang and others stood in the night and chatted casually with Shen Xicheng for a while. The film festival had not started yet, so there was nothing to cover in the interview. Xu Guanwen made an agreement with them to wait for the screening of "The Truman Show" before they could accept it again. Formal interview.

Then a few people went back to the hotel to rest.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang and his party gathered together again.

Today is the opening day of the film festival, and they all took a bus to the Palais des Festivals, where the main venue of the film festival is located.

At nine-thirty in the morning in Cannes, the sun was already shining brightly, and rehearsals for the opening ceremony were being prepared at the Palais des Festivals. Media reporters from all over the world gathered together.

Some reporters felt that the organizing committee had neglected them in their arrangements and had been negotiating with the staff of the organizing committee; some reporters opened their eyes wide and looked for celebrities and famous directors in the crowds of people on the streets of Cannes.

Hundreds of reporters and lively movie fans crowded in front of the Festival Palace, and the film festival was already showing great prosperity and excitement even before it opened.

Before 1982, the Cannes Film Festival was held at the Croisette Palace, but it was moved to the newly built Palais des Festivals in recent years.

Although it is not as simple and elegant as the Croisette Palace, the hardware facilities of the Palais des Festivals are much better than those of the Croisette Palace.

Lin Chaoyang and others successfully entered the Film Festival Palace after presenting their invitation letters to the film festival.

There are a total of 22 films from all over the world shortlisted for this year's Cannes Film Festival, which means that 22 crews will appear.

Coupled with the invited guests, reporters and film critics, nearly a thousand people poured into the festival palace.

Throughout the morning, all the film crews and stars participating in the film festival gathered together to meet with reporters. The crew gathered on the stairs for the media to take photos and promote the film.

When famous directors, actors and singers such as Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Tom Waits appeared on stage, the flashes of photographers turned into a dazzling light curtain, which stung people and made them unable to open their eyes. The audience also welcomed them enthusiastically with screams and applause.

When it was the turn of the cast of "The Truman Show" to appear, the light curtain and applause became completely ceremonial, and screams were even less likely to occur.

Feeling this huge gap, Xu Guanwen, Zhong Chuhong and Maggie Cheung couldn't stop eating after they got off the stairs. The theme was naturally the snobbery of the reporters and the audience in Cannes.

After lunch, there was another long process, the judges appeared and gave speeches... It was no different from domestic school activities. Lin Chaoyang couldn't wait and ran outside the Film Festival Palace to get some fresh air.

In the evening, the opening red carpet of the film festival officially began.

There was a huge crowd in front of the Palais des Festivals, with audiences, tourists and fans gathering on the Croisette and in the square.

The female celebrities competed for their beauty, causing bursts of screams and shouts.

The crew of "The Truman Show" were arranged to walk the red carpet at the front, and they were still a little transparent at the film festival.

At around 7 o'clock in the evening, the opening ceremony reached its climax, with judges meeting, celebrities taking the stage, and program performances. France 4's cameras recorded these scenes in real time.

The cast of "The Truman Show" only received very little live footage during the introduction of selected films.

After the intermission, there was a welcome banquet. The banquet was just like a train station hall during peak hours. The guests spent most of their time socializing instead of eating.

Hugging, exchanging business cards, going out to smoke, during the entire banquet, not a single table was full.

During most of the banquet, Lin Chaoyang stood on the hotel balcony smoking, and occasionally chatted with the crew members who came to him.

With an East Asian face, almost no one came to talk to him, except for a little old man with the same color skin and hair.

"Excuse me, are you Lin Sang?"

English with a strong Baga flavor rang in his ears. Lin Chaoyang turned around and saw Oshima Nagisa's face.

"Hello, Director Oshima."

Nagisa Oshima came to the Cannes Film Festival this year with his new film "Max, My Love". He is a frequent visitor to the Cannes Film Festival and has also won the Best Director Award at the film festival.

Compared with Lin Chaoyang and his party who had just arrived, the courtesy they received was much higher.

Lin Chaoyang didn't know why Oshima Nagisa suddenly came over to greet him, but he couldn't refuse people thousands of miles away when they greeted him with a smile.

The two talked in English. It turned out that Nagisa Oshima and Kenzaburo Oe were very good friends. In February, Kenzaburo Oe recommended him to read the book "Enter Kanto".

After attending a film festival today, I found out that Lin Chaoyang is the author of "Enter Guandong", so I took advantage of the dinner time to come and say hello.

“Such a magnificent work is really eye-opening!

After reading it, I understood why Kenzaburo admired Lin Sang so much."

Nagisa Oshima expressed his appreciation for "Enter Guandong" without hesitation, so Lin Chaoyang naturally had to be polite.

Then the two talked about "The Truman Show". Oshima Nagisa had read the brochure distributed by the film festival and roughly understood the story of "The Truman Show". He was very interested in this absurd story with a curious color.

interested.

Almost every one of Oshima Nagisa's masterpieces, "The World of the Senses", "Love of the Dead" and "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is very bold in style.

The film "Marx, My Love" brought to this film festival is based on the taboo theme of bestiality.

Lin Chaoyang asked himself that the stories told in his novels were relatively orthodox, and he did not expect to be highly appreciated by Nagisa Oshima. He was somewhat uncomfortable with it.
To be continued...