Chapter 251: Pros and Cons – This is her trial…
Thinking back to the story of Violet, the "4-year-old Best Actress," it left a relatively deep impression on Li Sishi's memory—when the award list was announced back then, it not only shocked the entertainment industry, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it shocked the whole world.
After all, this age is far too "young". In the minds of normal people, a 4-year-old child may not even have the ability to take care of themselves, yet she can perform so well in the movie, and with this movie, she can win the Best Actress award in Venice, which many adult actresses can only dream of.
Therefore, when Violet won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, the controversy surrounding her was also considerable: some people believed that she was just too lucky to have encountered a suitable film subject, coupled with the director's good guidance and her ability to cooperate, so with the combination of favorable timing, location and people, she not only achieved the youngest Best Actress award in the history of the Venice Film Festival, but also the youngest Best Actress award in the history of world film.
Conversely, some people believe that Violet should not have received the award, because they feel that a four-year-old child has no idea what acting or acting skills are. The biggest credit for the film's success should go to the director who guided Violet, allowing her to "play herself" as the little girl in the film.
In addition, some people who are more concerned about child protection feel that such a "natural performance" is not an "honor" but a "deception" - because it is rumored that the director of this film lied to Violet, saying that her mother had died, so that Violet could perfectly and vividly portray the poor little girl in "God's Little Daughter" who prays to God every day after learning that her mother died in a car accident, begging God to return her mother to her.
Although Li Sishi didn't know what Violet would think of this movie, which was essentially a deception of her young mind in order to make her "play herself," as she grew older and more mature, Li Sishi felt that Violet's performance in the movie was indeed outstanding and amazing.
As for breaking through the competition to win the Best Actress award, it was both unexpected and reasonable.
It can be said that Violet's age and the success of this film are interdependent. Like Li Sishi's recent phenomenal hit "The Gangster's Tale," it seized a fleeting opportunity when the timing was perfect and achieved an unprecedented ending.
The Water City Film Festival loves films with innovative ideas and those that dare to be pioneers, so they dared to give recognition to Violet, a little girl who was only 4 years old but had a stunning performance, and awarded her a major prize.
If it were Bai Cheng and Cannes in this movie, Violet might not have had this opportunity.
Li Sishi didn't want to go head-to-head with Villette and the organizers of the Water City Film Festival, and the story genres that Baicheng preferred didn't fit her current style, so if she wanted to gain experience in Europe, she really could only choose the Cannes Film Festival in France this year.
Fortunately, if Violet's win as the "youngest Best Actress in history" makes the Venice Film Festival famous this year, Li Sishi has another idea for a publicity campaign. As the three most prestigious and oldest international film festivals in Europe, Berlin, Venice, and Cannes compete with each other openly and covertly every year, and almost all of them make it mandatory for films that want to participate in the main competition to have their world premiere at their film festival, using such tough rules to maintain their status and prestige.
After a film is completed and before it is officially released in theaters, a series of promotional activities are usually carried out according to the original publicity and distribution plan. The first screening event that is publicly shown to the media or the public worldwide is called the "world premiere".
To describe this global premiere using a local saying in Hong Kong, it would be "the first taste of soup," meaning the "first sip of soup."
Although we don't know how it will taste, the "first taste" is always more attractive to people. Therefore, a film festival can attract more and higher-quality new films if it can participate.
Then the status, reputation and influence of this film festival will be enhanced accordingly.
So when a film appears—a new work by a renowned director, a star-studded cast, or a highly anticipated adaptation—the organizers of these three film festivals will pull out all the stops to "snatch" it up, even going so far as to secretly promise it a spot in the main competition...
There are no such award ceremonies in Hong Kong as there are elsewhere, but the competition among film companies is fierce, only the "guaranteed ranking" has been replaced with conditions such as "cinema allocation" and "profit concessions".
Considering this historical competitive relationship, if the Venice Film Festival does indeed award the "youngest Best Actress in history" this year as she remembers, then Li Sishi plans to put on a public relations and marketing campaign in Cannes to make her the "first Chinese Cannes Best Actress in history."
While it's unclear whether the current online offensive will create a significant impact, it wouldn't be right not to go all out since they're already here—if she's lucky enough to succeed in her public relations efforts, she would truly be the first Cannes Film Festival Best Actress in Hong Kong's history, and even in Chinese history, to directly win an award.
She would then be able to rise to the same level as Kong Wei and Shang Lanyu, with each of the three holding a Best Actress award at one of the three major European film festivals.
This is her test and her opportunity—of course, the most important question right now is what kind of movie to make and take to Cannes.
The original script, adapted from the life story of a wealthy dumpling tycoon in Cannes, wasn't well-received by Cannes audiences, and neither is she particularly interested in this type of subject matter now.
Although this year's Water City Film Festival has been moved up to the end of April due to certain reasons, it is a rare occurrence.
However, the Cannes Film Festival's usual May date remains unchanged, so there are only three months left before she has to take her film to Cannes.
To have three months to conceive a script you want and turn it into a fully-fledged film, given that Hong Kong's "7-day fresh" film production speed—from preparation to release—is not insignificant. However, if the constraint of "aiming for an international award" is added, three months might not even be enough to polish the script...
But now she has to start thinking about it, and she also has to take a little over a week out of her schedule during the preparation phase to film the second sequel to "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"—yes, recently the controversy surrounding "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" finally came to an end after the collaboration between "Top Partners" and Jia Sui, successfully maintaining its IIB film rating.
Thus, the production of the sequel was launched in one go, even before the first film had finished its run, thanks to the "Hong Kong speed" of production efficiency.
With the original comic's plot as a foundation, screenwriter Wang Yunjun's script adaptation work went relatively smoothly. The only thing that affected his adaptation was the scheduling issues of several main actors, which made it take a few days longer than usual for the first draft to finally reach Li Sishi.
As the year draws to a close, Chow Sing-Yee's "The New Three Smiles" has finally begun its official release in major cinemas. With its family-friendly appeal, it has swept the box office in Hong Kong, even affecting the soon-to-be-released "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".
But such an impact is no longer significant – "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" has already reached the 28 million mark. Even with the impact of the new comedy king's work this week, it is visibly possible to take another 2 million in box office revenue.
Riding the wave of popularity of "The New Three Smiles Marriage" and hoping to push it to even greater box office heights, Kong Wei, who has always maintained a low profile in Hong Kong, agreed to her fiancé Wang Heyang's proposal to hold a wedding banquet.
After discussion, it was decided to hold a banquet at the well-known Huaxia City restaurant in the port city, inviting relatives and friends to attend and share in the joy of the newlyweds' happy occasion.
Looking at the bright red invitation in her hand, Li Sishi was picking out clothes while trying to recall what she was going through when Rong Juezhang, who was also busy arranging clothes in the store, suddenly reminded her: "They invited you to dinner last time, don't you remember?"
"Oh, so it was the time when all four of us were vying to pay the bill, but this Mr. Wang secretly paid it for us when he passed by? Li Sishi suddenly realized that this Wang Heyang was the tobacco company boss who had pursued Kong Wei before."
This guy is something else. He took advantage of Kong Wei's heartbreak as a fan and then used the opportunity to make her "go public"—true love is true love, and he's also really cunning.
After all, given Kong Wei's vision and mindset, coupled with the fact that she was in the rising period of popularity after winning the big prize, it was still possible to persuade her to publicly announce her marriage and hold a banquet. Who wouldn't praise this Mr. Wang for his sharp insight?
"What wedding gift are you planning to give Kong Wei?" Li Sishi asked, while casually picking through a row of clothes racks in Rong Juezhang's shop. Only after he gave her a hard tap on the back of her hand did she reluctantly withdraw her mischievous hands and try to change the subject.
"It's the usual, a crystal ornament." Rong Juezhang answered, then asked in return, "And what about you?"
"Nothing new at all." Li Sishi rolled her eyes.
I don't know where he got this quirk from, but he always likes to give people crystal products as gifts, with a "crystal is omnipotent" mentality that he can rely on one trick to succeed.
"So, you have some novel ideas?" Rong Juezhang put down the measuring tape in his hand, propped one hand on the table, and looked back at him with a half-smile.
“It’s not only original but also thoughtful. I plan to give Sister Kong Wei a complete set of gold jewelry weighing 1231 grams, including a headdress, earrings, necklace, bracelet, bangle, and anklet—a total of six pieces.” After listing the details of her gift, Li Sishi calmly added, “Sister Kong Wei’s birthday is December 31st, so I’m giving her 1231 grams of gold.”
With gold priced at just over 100 yuan per gram and her existing relationship with Happiness Jewelry, this set of gold jewelry could easily be had for a little over 100,000 yuan.
"Hey, little sister, how old are you this year? Giving gold as a gift?" Rong Juezhang was speechless for a moment. "These days, aren't diamonds more popular among you young people? They're even advertised on TV, like 'A diamond is forever'..."
"It's just carbon, all hype and no substance," Li Sishi shook her head, then added in a wistful tone, "Gold is different. It's not just an ornament, it has stable value, and it's a product of supernova explosions. The gold reflection we see now is the afterglow of ancient stars..."
"You're quite the braggart..."
16
Rong Juezhang looked at her as if he were meeting her for the first time, which made Li Sishi frown repeatedly. She couldn't help but emphasize again that her words were absolutely true.
"Alright, alright, I can't argue with you—look but don't touch! Don't ruin this dress, it might be the one you'll wear in the future!" Rong Juezhang gave her another tap, and after helping her pick out an orange-pink dress, he hurriedly urged her to leave.
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