Chapter 918 The Jose Film Festival, "The Window Sill"

Even without Lu Yanhe, the Jose Film Festival was still dazzling with stars, showcasing the most luxurious aspects of the entertainment industry.

As it turns out, the Earth will keep turning no matter who leaves, not even if you are a time traveler with extraordinary abilities.

Fortunately, Lu Yanhe was never an arrogant person.

He also wouldn't allow himself to be arrogant.

However, while one cannot stop the Earth from rotating, one can influence other things.

Just like Lu Yanhe, even though he didn't attend the Jose Film Festival in person, many people, including the media, would consciously or unconsciously mention his name at the festival.

For example, when introducing Zhang Ruozhi and Qin Shulan.

For example, when Linghe Film Company announced that it would remake the two films, "Summer Night Villa Horror" and "The Corpse," with the American company D19.

For example, when The Notebook held its world premiere.

The influence of a filmmaker is etched into everyone's heart little by little, without being proactive, but with undeniable power.

You'll frequently see his name in the most anticipated film projects, the most watched ceremonies, and the biggest media outlets.

When interviewing foreign filmmakers, many domestic media outlets often ask the following question: Are there any Chinese filmmakers you would like to collaborate with?

At the Jose Film Festival, these problems become even more numerous.

Almost every foreign filmmaker was asked this question, and the result was that nine out of ten answers were by Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe's fans jokingly say:

Even though I'm no longer in the martial arts world, my legend lives on.

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On the day of the premiere of "The Window Sill", Jiang Yuqian invited many friends.

The Jose Film Festival, held right on her doorstep, features a Hollywood film starring her—aiming for the grand prize this year and the North American awards season at the end of the year—so Jiang Yuqian takes it very seriously.

Many of the European and American celebrities who came to Jose were friends that Jiang Yuqian had known over the years, and she invited them all.

In the first half of the year, Jiang Yuqian received much praise from critics for her performance in "Love is Not Blind," with many saying that her acting finally broke through the limitations of her previous style.

Now that "The Window" has appeared in the competition, everyone is curious and also worried about what kind of performance Jiang Yuqian has made in it.

In fact, Jiang Yuqian herself was just as nervous.

Sia Wee is a film director with a very unique personal style.

Her dialogue style has been described by many as "modern and refreshing." If there's anyone in today's cinema who can be called a "queen quote generator," Cia Wee is definitely on the list. However, this has also drawn criticism from many critics, who argue that her films often fail to reach sufficient depth, remaining superficial and merely formulaic.

On set, Xia Wei offered Jiang Yuqian very little guidance.

She likes to have Jiang Yuqian act out a scene several times in different states. Speaking with a smile, speaking with tears, speaking seemingly casually... a lot of fragmented performances.

Jiang Yuqian had always heard Lu Yanhe say that acting is not about portraying a certain state, but about portraying a character. If the character is right, then any way of acting is right.

However, while performing in "The Window Sill," she found that much of her preparation was useless. Her analysis of the character and her handling of many details seemed completely uninteresting to Xia Wei. On set, Xia Wei treated it like a theatrical rehearsal, offering many impromptu suggestions and encouraging Jiang Yuqian to give it a try.

This left Jiang Yuqian unsure of her actual performance in the film after filming.

We don't even know the general situation.

Because there are several ways to perform each scene.

Jiang Yuqian had no idea which one Xi Yawei would use.

Nevertheless, a director like Sia Wee, who has received attention from film festivals and Oscars in Europe and America, has already proven her talent to everyone with her past works, and she does not need to explain to Jiang Yuqian the reasons behind all these filming processes.

When Jiang Yuqian sat down, her heart suddenly raced as she watched the film she was starring in for the first time at such a top-tier film festival, alongside so many colleagues, media, and critics.

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Jiang Yuqian plays the role of an editor at a magazine.

Because of the decline of print media, she faced an unstable situation where she had to change jobs at any time.

At this time, she had the opportunity to interview a once very famous actor through a work opportunity—the role that Chen Pinhe was originally intended to play.

After Chen Pinhe was eliminated, the actor who replaced him in the role became a Chinese-American actor who had been playing minor roles in Hollywood for over twenty years.

Wu Mingyou.

This is the first time he has landed an important role after so many years in Hollywood.

Because of the opportunity to interview this actor, Jiang Yuqian was able to stay by his side for three days, from the film set to private parties, getting up close to the real life of a Hollywood star.

This led a film director to notice her unique charisma and invite her to star in his next film.

She was flattered, but the male actor warned her that the director was not a good person and that she should not be fooled by him.

But when the opportunity to be an actress in a well-known director's new film was presented to her, Jiang Yuqian did hesitate.

Just then, the magazine she worked for finally announced that it would cease publication, and she would lose her job.

Therefore, Jiang Yuqian decided to take the initiative to contact that director.

In the movie, this scene was filmed very subtly.

Every moment, because of habitual thinking, you feel that the next second, the director will reveal his true nature and take Jiang Yuqian to bed.

This is not an illusion.

The film gave the director and Jiang Yuqian many close-ups of their eyes and micro-expressions.

The changes in lighting and shadows, as well as the subtle shifts in movement and positioning, all subtly convey this atmosphere.

Jiang Yuqian felt a shiver that was somewhere between excitement and unease.

In this scene, she and the director had a conversation that lasted about a minute, starting with Jiang Yuqian's question, "Do you really think I can become an actress?"

When it was over, Jiang Yuqian excitedly raised her hands and covered her burning cheeks.

"My God, this all feels like a dream."

But for some reason, the director simply sat calmly on the sofa from beginning to end, looking at Jiang Yuqian with a smile in his eyes. His gaze clearly revealed his interest in Jiang Yuqian from the beginning to end, very directly, but also very restrained, without taking any action.

He didn't say anything more, just quietly gazing at Jiang Yuqian, who was excited and seemed to be floating on clouds.

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"The Window" is a film that does not contain any direct exposure or depiction of eroticism.

However, the film still takes the relationship between men and women as its entry point, with the main storyline focusing on the changes in the female protagonist's job and her relationship with the male actor and the film director.

Later, filming began, and the male actor happened to be the male lead in the film.

As a newcomer actress, Jiang Yuqian was constantly praised by the director for her talent and charisma. However, she also made frequent mistakes on set, which led to many people having a lot of opinions about her. The male actor even directly advised her to give up.

Her situation made her increasingly vulnerable and helpless, which ironically led her to display traits in the film that matched the character.

That day, the director came to her room to discuss the role with her. The two got so excited that they ended up in bed together. Afterwards, the director kept telling her about the character's complexity, vulnerability, and allure, and how similar they were, almost identical.

As Jiang Yuqian listened, she vaguely felt that something was not quite right.

After that, the director would come to her room almost every night. During the day on set, whenever she performed a scene almost instinctively, she could see his fervent, excited, and seemingly burning gaze.

The crew members are all gossiping that they're dating.

The male actor also grew further away from her.

However, through her interactions with the director, Jiang Yuqian gradually realized that he seemed to be using her merely as a vehicle for the character in the script.

His burning gaze was looking through her body at another soul.

Jiang Yuqian's doubts deepened.

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"This is a very complex and difficult role to play. This film almost completely breaks away from the original love patterns of Cia Way. It explores the issue of the survival and choice dilemma of the subordinate in the face of the superior’s justified discipline of the subordinate."

"I was shocked that the film took this turn. I thought it would be another philosophical exploration of love with the theme of actresses choosing between male directors and male actors. But this time, Cia Way has changed the woman's choice from two men to whether or not to accept this kind of conventional discipline."

"The female character played by Jiang Yuqian is definitely one of the most powerful characters in the film industry this year. When she had a huge conflict with the director's ideas about the character during the filming of the final scene of the play-within-a-play, the two argued on set. The director angrily and hysterically said that he would fire her and replace her. She resolutely threw the script in her hand out of the second-floor window, turned around and left. That was definitely Jiang Yuqian's best performance since she started acting."

"This is an allegorical story that uses the relationship between a male director and a female actor to metaphorically represent the relationship between patriarchal society and women. It is undoubtedly a signal that Sia Wey is no longer satisfied with the expression of romantic short films and has decided to step into a more grand discussion."

Ironically, when the director in the film clamored to replace the actress and reshoot, the production company, for economic reasons, directly rejected his decision and used footage of Jiang Yuqian throwing the script from behind the window, turning around and leaving only an empty window as the ending of this play within a play. She still became very successful and received attention because of this film.

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Lu Yanhe didn't see the movie right away, but after its premiere, all sorts of reviews flew around.

Jiang Yuqian is considered a strong contender for this year's Best Actress award.

Johnny Hein, the British actor who plays the director, also received rave reviews for his successful portrayal of the arrogant director who is pathologically obsessed with molding real-life actresses into the female lead in the film.

Wu Mingyou, who replaced Chen Pinhe in the role of the male actor, did not receive much attention.

His presence in the film was described as "mediocre".

Some cynical media outlets have said that, in terms of the script's setup, this character was originally supposed to be a force capable of challenging the director and actress, but due to the actress's mediocrity, it became a mere tool in the film.

Cia Wey’s “The Window” became the most discussed film at this year’s Jose Film Festival.

(End of this chapter)