Chapter 591 From Guest to Host

The entire industry is furious about Lu Shan's actions this time.

It's not that Lu Yanhe is uncommon; he's willing to support and endorse other films, and he's never stingy with recommending them on his social media platforms, helping to promote countless movies.

It's important to understand that with Lu Yanhe's current influence, his recommendation can prevent many low-budget films without sufficient publicity funds from being released quietly.

After what happened, would Lu Yanhe still be willing to recommend other movies?

Films are content products; it's perfectly normal for some people to like them and others not to.

This also means that no matter what movie Lu Yanhe recommends, he will be criticized and questioned.

Will Lu Yanhe, just to be on the safe side, stop recommending it altogether in the future?

Lu Shan is widely condemned and ostracized within the industry. Not to mention, he was one of the investors in "Human Joy," raising serious questions about his motives and making him a disgrace.

Lu Yanhe hadn't expected to receive so many calls, all subtly asking if he would still be willing to recommend other movies in the future.

To be honest, Lu Yanhe had already been seriously considering this matter and thinking about what to do next.

After all, less talk means fewer mistakes, and inaction means fewer mistakes.

Is it necessary to go to this extent in order to "avoid making mistakes"?

Lu Yanhe knew that many people were making this call because they were considering his future films.

Lu Yanhe loves this industry and sincerely hopes it will flourish. He is unwilling to let the controversy caused by a single recommendation affect his future actions.

There are usually no major films released on Fridays following May Day.

Because the market potential of films released during the May Day holiday has not yet been fully tapped, it is difficult for new films to secure screenings and attract audiences to cinemas to the greatest extent possible.

At this time, low-budget films that don't have high box office potential often use this window to try their luck in theaters and earn a few million in box office revenue. This allows them to sell their rights for higher fees through other channels while still being recognized as theatrical releases.

This Friday, an art film called "The Horseman" was released.

Lu Yanhe appeared again at the advance screening and shared his thoughts on the film.

“I’m very nervous, afraid that this will cause controversy again. However, I still love movies. It doesn’t matter if people don’t trust me anymore, but this is a good movie. It’s very similar to the stories I read in children’s literature magazines when I was a child. It’s real, heartwarming, and childlike,” said Lu Yanhe. “I really like the child actors in this film. I don’t know where the director found them. They are very cute and touching in the movie. For audiences who want to experience the stories they read in children’s literature magazines when they were young, this movie is definitely worth going to the cinema for.”

“I will continue to recommend movies. I know that I will definitely cause controversy because of my recommendations in the future, but I have thought about it carefully for a long time. I am not willing to stop expressing my opinions just because it may cause controversy,” Lu Yanhe said. “I also have to accept the fact that even if I like something, others may not like it, and that what I care about may not care about others. Thank you.”

A large number of people in the audience began to applaud.

On Friday, the film "The Horseman" grossed over 2.4 million yuan, and with the preview screenings, the total box office exceeded 3 million yuan, which surprised the industry.

For a low-budget film, such box office results are certainly enough for them to celebrate.

-

"I didn't expect you to recover in such a short time. I thought it would take you a while to recover your strength."

On the way to Jose, Chen Siqi and Lu Yanhe teased him with a smile.

"I didn't want to continue the internal strife. At first, I was a little confused and couldn't quite grasp the right balance. But then I thought, forget it, I'm too lazy to get caught up in it. I didn't lie or deliberately exaggerate what I didn't do. Can I always say whatever I want? I can't do that, so there's no point in internal strife."

"That's good." Chen Siqi nodded. "I was really worried that because of this, you wouldn't dare to say what you want to say anymore."

"Why? Am I usually this vulnerable?"

“Because this time you’re completely innocent,” Chen Siqi laughed. “If it were your own movie, it would be fine, but this time you’ve gotten caught up in controversy because of someone else’s movie.”

"Brother Qiao felt quite guilty."

"Anyone would feel guilty for asking a friend to help out, only to cause them so much trouble."

Lu Yanhe: "I feel like he's unlikely to ask me to help him out again in the future."

Chen Siqi: "No, not really. In the short term, everyone needs time to process the negative emotions brought about by this. It will get better with time."

-

Lu Yanhe had expected to feel excited and nervous several days before heading to Jose, but perhaps because of Lu Shan's incident, his attention was completely drawn to the film festival. It wasn't until he arrived at the airport and was ready to fly to Jose that he gradually settled into his film festival mindset.

"Is there any chance that 'Love Letter' will win an award this time?" Chen Siqi asked curiously.

She really wanted to know.

Because Lu Yanhe is quite familiar with the major film festivals, his analysis of whether a film can win an award is always based on the festivals' judging preferences in recent years and the characteristics of the film itself.

Every time Chen Siqi listened to Lu Yanhe talk about these things, she gained a new understanding of the film industry.

The film industry is not static; it is constantly changing.

Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and said, "About half of the films nominated for the main competition at this year's Jose Film Festival are by new directors, and we don't really know much about their films yet. We can only analyze 'Love Letter' itself first. Its depth and artistry are a bit shallow, that's an objective fact—and the film itself wasn't designed in that direction. It's also not very competitive in terms of acting awards. In terms of screen time and role, only Bige has a chance to win, but that's just a chance. This isn't one of her best performances. The two roles in the film don't present much of a challenge for her, and besides, she just won Best Actress for 'Rouge,' so people won't be voting for her again anytime soon."

Chen Siqi nodded.

"So, according to you, Love Letter might not actually win an award?"

Lu Yanhe nodded.

“It may win an award, or it may not; it depends on the specific circumstances. I still place more hope on media reviews and audience word-of-mouth for the performance of ‘Love Letter’,” he said. “I think the biggest advantage of ‘Love Letter’ is that it is a good film.”

"If everyone thinks it's beautiful, why not give it an award?"

“Liking a work is one thing, giving an award to a work is another,” Lu Yanhe said. “Actually, we are the same. We may really like a work, but we all think it’s because it resonates with our own experiences. But when we have to choose an award, we inevitably have to consider one thing: Is it good enough? Does it deserve the award? Sometimes, we will choose the more correct one than the one we like.”

Chen Siqi suddenly realized.

She understood what Lu Yanhe meant.

This is similar to the way articles are selected for publication in "Jump Up" magazine. The editorial team might actually like some of the works, but they also know that, in terms of literary merit and seriousness, another work is more profound. When they need to recommend works for literary awards, they will forgo their favorites and recommend novels that they themselves may not like as much, but which are more literary.

The very creation of an award implies that it is not based on personal preferences. It's just that personal preferences often influence the judgment of value.

Chen Siqi: "I don't know how Liu Bige's 'Even Faking Death Is Not Good' is. I haven't seen the movie yet."

“I’m also really looking forward to it. Actually, Liu Bige is the kind of director I really like,” Lu Yanhe said. “He doesn’t use the obvious boundaries between commercial films and art films to restrict his creation. Instead, he will handle any subject matter or genre in his own style.”

Lu Yanhe felt that Liu Bige was like directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Wong Kar-wai, and Park Chan-wook—his personal style always far outweighed the subject matter and genre. The story, the characters, the genre—they were all just clay in their hands; the works they created were always themselves.

Lu Yanhe realized this when he was filming "Late Spring" with Liu Bige.

To say he's a director who doesn't care about story pacing or entertainment would be nonsense; the story of *Late Spring* is essentially a melodramatic and brutal coming-of-age tale. But would you say he made a melodramatic coming-of-age film? No one who has seen the movie would think so. The focus in his films isn't on the melodrama, but rather on the anxiety, unease, struggles, and the most subtle emotions of each character within that melodramatic story.

This makes "Late Spring" a film that is completely different from other youth-themed movies.

Therefore, although "Fake Death Is Not Allowed" may seem like a very commercial romantic comedy at first glance, it is definitely not the kind of formulaic or stereotypical romantic comedy.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to be shortlisted for the main competition at the Jose Film Festival.

This is similar to how Johnnie To's films were previously regulars at the three major European film festivals—

He makes commercial films, but he puts his own name on them, taking his personal style to the extreme, which is also a form of expression.

-

Upon arriving in Jose again, Lu Yanhe was greeted by numerous media outlets and fans who came to welcome him at the airport.

Chen Siqi deliberately kept her distance from him.

They rarely show affection in front of the camera.

Because there were many people at the scene, Lu Yanhe was delayed for quite a while and boarded the bus 15 minutes later than expected.

He has a lot of work to do during his first week at the Jose Film Festival, and his schedule is tight. Today, he needs to rush to the hotel to prepare so that he can have dinner with Chen Siqi and the editor-in-chief of "Jose Film" magazine tonight.

Moreover, because several Chinese-language films were shortlisted for the Jose Film Festival, there were many Chinese media outlets visiting Jose this time.

Naturally, they all hoped to get an interview with Lu Yanhe. If even one of their Chinese-language media outlets couldn't secure a meeting with Lu Yanhe, or get an interview or filming opportunity, they would lose face among their peers. This forced Lu Yanhe to cooperate with various media outlets and do some related publicity.

In fact, many big-name celebrities don't usually give interviews during film festivals these days.

Firstly, the schedule was very tight, and secondly, everyone felt that the atmosphere of the film festival had changed significantly.

Film festivals used to be a place where everyone could sit together and talk about movies, but now they've become a celebrity showcase and a huge publicity channel.

The bigger the star an actor is, the more they need to protect their image. When the environment isn't ideal, they'd rather not give interviews than be asked unprofessional questions.

It's no longer an isolated phenomenon for journalists to ask questions like "How do you maintain your current figure?" at a professional film festival.

When Wang Biao was arranging interviews for Lu Yanhe, he had to conduct background checks on the interviewees.

See how they conduct interviews with other actors.

The workload is huge, but if we don't do this, we can't control the quality of the interviews.

Fortunately, Wang Biao had the help of the "Jump Up" film team. They knew very well which media outlets and journalists were truly knowledgeable and professional.

Wang Biao actually had a list. The list contained the names of media outlets and media professionals he could trust in his work.

This list is updated in real time by everyone working together.

There is a huge database behind it as supporting material.

When Lu Yanhe learned that Wang Biao had this list, he joked, "Usually, it's the major media outlets that give us artists scores. In the future, I'll also gather a group of artists to give you media outlets and media professionals scores."

Chen Siqi said at the time, "Maybe we can do one every year at the end of the year in the future."

Later, Chen Siqi pulled Xin Zixing aside to think about it, but it's unclear how well they figured it out.

-

"The films in the main competition this time are said to be of high overall quality."

In the evening, Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi had dinner with Evan Gardi, the executive editor of Jose Films, and Evan revealed some information about this year's event to them.

“Especially Vietnamese director Song Moc Thanh’s ‘The Long Rainy Season,’ American director Rubian Murray’s ‘Paradise,’ and British director Reinaldo Marcus’s ‘Bob Cole,’ these three films received very high praise during their internal screenings,” Evan said. “Of course, your ‘Love Letter’ also received high praise. Wu Yang said it’s the best film about unrequited love in the last decade.”

Wu Yang is the artistic director of the Jose Film Festival.

Lu Yanhe nodded, "The Jose Film Festival always values ​​whether the film itself is good. I actually love watching movies at the Jose Film Festival. This time I'm finally not filming on set, so I can watch a few movies properly during my free time. It's just a pity that I haven't been able to get tickets for several of them yet."

Evan said, "Tell me which movie you want to see, and I'll get you the tickets."

As the executive editor of Jose Film magazine, he certainly has no shortage of resources in this area.

"Really? That's great, thank you." Lu Yanhe said.

During his last visit to Jose, Lu Yanhe met Evan Gardi, and the two established contact, occasionally exchanging emails and discussing movies.

Evan Galdy himself is a fan of Lu Yanhe's films.

As the executive editor of Jose Cinema, Evan Galdy naturally has close ties with people in the film industry.

However, he kept telling Lu Yanhe that he hoped Lu Yanhe could make more substantial films. Especially after the huge success of "The Mist," he was one of the few people who emailed Lu Yanhe to remind him that an actor should be wary of becoming someone who is seen as a genre film actor.

“I’m so glad you’re back with another film so soon after The Mist,” Evan Gardy said. “I was worried you’d get lost in the success of commercial films and want to be a star instead of an actor.”

Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Actually, being a star is also my job, but I put the identity of an actor first. Acting is my priority. But if I weren't a star, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to be a director and make a movie like 'Love Letter'."

“That’s right,” Evan Gardy nodded. “However, I didn’t expect you to go back to doing sitcoms after doing so few movies.”

"There are some film shooting plans coming up," Lu Yanhe said.

"I heard you're going to be filming Huang Tianlin's movie soon?"

"Yes."

“His movies are good.” Evan nodded in agreement. “Oh, I met with Rubian Murray, the director of Paradise, yesterday. He told me that he recently watched River Silent and was quite impressed with you. He wants to get to know you.”

Rubian Murray's "Paradise" is not only one of the most anticipated films in the main competition this year, but he himself is also one of the most renowned auteur directors at major film festivals around the world. His previous works have been regulars at international film festivals, although he has not yet won any major awards.

Lu Yanhe said, "If I have the chance to run into him later, I will take the initiative to get to know him."

“Streaming media has had a huge impact on the entire industry right now,” Evan said. “I didn’t expect that even a director like Rubian would watch River Silent on streaming. It makes me pessimistic about the future of cinemas.”

Lu Yanhe: "The world is constantly changing. If one day movie theaters really disappear, none of us can stop it. But before that happens, we can all try our best to prevent it from happening. Indeed, I personally prefer watching movies in the theater. The big screen and surround sound are completely different audiovisual experiences compared to watching on a computer. So, let's try to make movies that can attract audiences to the theaters."

Evan said, "I like what you said."

He raised his glass.

"Let's work together to prevent movie theaters from disappearing in our time."

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi raised their glasses together and gently clinked them together.

The wine glass made a clear, tinkling sound in the night sky.

-

On the day of the opening ceremony, Chen Bige was unable to attend because her work in China was not yet finished, and Zhang Ruozhi was unable to attend because she was preparing for exams. Lu Yanhe walked the red carpet with Wan Xin and Li Songfan, two veteran actors who had many scenes in the film.

The production team of "Love Letter" has already received a lot of attention because of Lu Yanhe.

Chen Siqi walked the red carpet with Lu Yanhe this time, and the rare sight of them walking hand in hand on the red carpet naturally became the focus of attention for major media outlets and cameras.

Since the huge success of "The Mist," overseas media outlets haven't seen Lu Yanhe much. Now that he's finally appeared, they're sure to take plenty of pictures.

Artistic Director Wu Yang stood at the end of the red carpet, welcoming each guest.

When Lu Yanhe and the others walked over, Wu Yang took several steps forward to greet them.

This time, Lu Yanhe made a special trip to arrive before the opening ceremony, showing great respect by attending, which pleased Wu Yang. After all, Lu Yanhe could have easily come a few days later—

Many big-name actors are like this; they only allocate about three to four days to the film festival, and leave as soon as their film screenings are over.

Like Chen Bige, she has a job in China, so she can't come here as early as Lu Yanhe.

Upon entering the cinema, Lu Yanhe discovered that he knew many more people.

Whether it's people from film companies or creators of film content.

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi were busy greeting and exchanging pleasantries with various people. They chatted more with those they were closer to, catching up on their recent situations and how long they would be staying in Jose. When people organized gatherings or parties and sent invitations to Lu Yanhe and his partner, Lu Yanhe would usually ask them to send a formal copy to his email address so he could confirm the itinerary and schedule later.

Although he had "Love Letter" competing at the Jose Film Festival, Lu Yanhe's mindset at the event was more about meeting up with a group of old and new friends. He didn't actually handle the specific work coordination; Song Jiang and Wan Qingqing, representing Linghe Films, handled the liaison with the festival officials. He was exceptionally relaxed and increasingly enjoyed this opportunity to get to know a large group of friends.

Lu Yanhe had previously discussed this change in himself with Chen Siqi.

Chen Siqi said, "When you first went to the film festival, no one knew you. You were an intruder. No matter what other people's attitude was, you felt a little reserved and uneasy as a guest. Now your situation has changed. Everyone knows you and likes you. You feel at home here. Moreover, you have a need to get to know everyone. When the two are combined, your mindset changes."

To the point.

Lu Yanhe nodded seriously, indicating his agreement.

-

The update is late.

Sorry.

(End of this chapter)