Oh well, you can't live without being obsessed, right?
The person who presented the award to Shang Yechu was none other than Ban Qingwen, a judge from China.
Ban Qingwen was of average appearance, but possessed a rather elegant demeanor. Around fifty years old, she appeared serious and reserved. She was also wearing a black dress, giving her a completely different air from Yang Huanyi.
After handing the trophy and certificate to Shang Yechu, the two hugged.
In that instant, Shang Yechu heard her whisper in her ear, "Well done, keep it up."
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Let's rewind to before the Film Awards ceremony.
The jury of the Ying Shi Awards has been arguing for three days, like a multilingual version of a farmers' market.
In the first round of discussions, "Waiting to Be Legal" swept almost all the awards. Several disgruntled judges overturned the table on the spot, nearly coming to blows.
The reason is simple: *Waiting to Be Legal* is a very opportunistic film. It almost perfectly fits all the stereotypes of arthouse films: deliberately mysterious visuals, deliberately profound dialogue, a dark and powerless reality, exquisite composition, and various metaphors and political satires—these are all strengths of South Korean directors.
But South Korea has been releasing this type of film for three or four years in a row!
Excessively dark and brutal content is also a form of genre rigidity and is not conducive to the development of the film industry. For the Film Awards, which encourage innovation, self-reliance, and strive to carve out a niche for Asian cinema on the world stage, this kind of thing is fine once or twice, but if it's done every time, everyone will get sick of it.
The second round of discussions was roughly split between "The Blue Wall" and "The Carved Iron Chair." "Happiness Street, Please Come In!" won Best Art Direction.
This time, the opposition was much weaker. But at the crucial moment, Ban Qingwen, a director from China, overturned the table and launched a fierce defense. She felt that the judges were biased and unfair to the Chinese film "The Forest Without Flowers".
Ban Qingwen holds a high position in the industry, and people listen to her. The judging panel, which had been fiercely debating, had no choice but to stop and listen to her insightful opinions.
Ban Qingwen quoted extensively from classical texts and talked for four hours, almost breaking down the many metaphors in "The Forest Without Flowers," especially the treatment of the letter "L" and the stroke "㇄" at the end, almost frame by frame.
Having been influenced by Chinese culture for thousands of years, Japan and South Korea are better able to understand the connotations and ingenuity of these designs. This time, most of the judges were stunned.
According to Ban Qingwen's interpretation, "The Forest Without Flowers" is not only profound in meaning, but also made many bold attempts and breakthroughs!
In the third round of discussions, "The Forest Without Flowers" was undoubtedly the winner of the Best Director award. Ban Qingwen had wanted to win Best Film, but a judge she was on good terms with reminded her that "The Blue Wall" and "The Carved Iron Chair" were highly regarded in South Korea, and that this award might be difficult to obtain.
The Best Director award was decided first. But the Best Actress award proved to be a challenge.
The judges, adhering to the principle of equal treatment, hadn't initially considered the two leads from "The Forest Without Flowers." However, after watching the nominated films repeatedly, it seemed somewhat unseemly to shamelessly claim that the other actresses performed better than the two from "The Forest Without Flowers"...
This is the advantage of "The Forest Without Flowers" in terms of its subject matter. As a love story between two people, the entire work focuses on the two main characters. The character development is unmatched by other dramas.
The difference between character-driven and plot-driven stories lies precisely in this. Character-driven films excel at character development; the characters propel the film forward, making it almost impossible for them not to come alive. Plot-driven films, on the other hand, are driven by the plot, forcing the protagonist to rely on passive reactions to demonstrate their acting skills, resulting in a much weaker performance compared to the former. The judges are well aware of this.
They are all professional critics; they wouldn't deliberately bury good things just for a minor rule that ensures everyone gets the credit.
Therefore, the fourth round of discussion focused on which of the two lead actors should win the award.
Ban Qingwen was very troubled.
Both Ye Chu and Yang Huanyi tried to win her over, but she rejected them both. But deep down, she was more inclined to side with Ye Chu.
Ye Chu's performance was natural and exquisite. In contrast, while Yang Huanyi's performance was good in some parts, it was too contrived in others and too conservative and mild in still others.
But apart from her, most of the judges thought Yang Huanyi acted better. Among these judges, Ban Qingwen knew—humph, some had received bribes from Cao Shi; others were prejudiced, naturally assuming that middle-aged actors were necessarily better at acting than younger actors.
In South Korea and Japan, the seniority culture is deeply ingrained, and seniority is highly valued among actors. In the eyes of judges from Japan and South Korea, it is as natural for juniors to lose to seniors as water flowing downhill.
Ban Qingwen argued for Ye Chu twice, but ultimately, she couldn't win against the overwhelming crowd. Acting ability is subjective, unlike film which allows for multiple interpretations. This time, she failed to convince everyone.
Ban Qingwen could only console herself, since all the awards were won by Chinese people, it was all their own honor. Ye Chu was still young, so she could just bear with it this once.
Just then, Park Se-jin, the chairman of the judging panel, suddenly spoke up!
Park Se-jin surprisingly said that he had met Ye Chu at the Yingse Awards ceremony two years ago. At that time, Ye Chu won the Best New Actress Award for a film called "The Mute Woman", and Park Se-jin went to see the film out of curiosity.
Park Se-jin believes that Ye Chu's roles in "The Mute Woman" and "The Forest Without Flowers" are almost opposite, yet she performed both very well. The greater the range of a role, the more difficult it is to perform. Therefore, he personally feels that Ye Chu is no worse than Yang Huanyi in terms of acting skills, and he asks everyone not to be prejudiced because of age.
The chairman's words carried weight, and some of the judges changed their minds. This gave Ban Qingwen hope.
Ultimately, Ban Qingwen, Park Se-jin, and several judges sided with Ye Chu, while the others insisted on choosing Yang Huanyi. The two sides were deadlocked again, with Yang Huanyi's side still holding a slight advantage—after all, the history of authority and seniority worship in Japan and South Korea is much longer than that of the Ying Shi Awards.
Ban Qingwen was anxious. Ye Chu clearly performed better than Yang Huanyi, but she was rejected because of her persona, age, seniority, and even personal connections. This was undoubtedly a waste of talent.
Just as the fourth round of discussions was about to end without any results, at the critical moment, Ban Qingwen suddenly remembered something!
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