Chapter 55 Golden Lion Award

  The greatest peculiarity of Venice is the independence and adventurous spirit, with the motto "Cinema in the service of a serious art", judged according to the criterion of "artistic quality". The Golden Lion, as the highest honor given by the Venice Biennale, has been awarded since 1949 and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry. In 1970, the Honorary Golden Lion was established to reward workers who have made important contributions to the film industry.

  As a prestigious international award in the world of film, it's impossible for Song Tang to remain unmoved. The key is that some things are not attainable just because you want them to be. Song Tang knew that the biggest competitor for this year's Venice International Film Festival Golden Lion Award was the work of director Zhang Yimou from his own country, "The Story of Qiu Ju", which took place in a small mountain village in northwest China. Qiu Ju's husband Wan Qinglai had a dispute with the village chief Wang Shantang and was kicked out. Pregnant Qiu Ju went to reason with the village chief, but he refused to admit his mistake. Qiu Ju then went to the township government to file a complaint, and the village chief agreed to compensate her family for their economic losses. The village chief threw the money on the ground, and the humiliated Qiu Ju did not pick it up, instead embarking on another long journey of filing complaints.

  Qiu Ju went to the county public security bureau and the city, but both times she lost the lawsuit. Qiu Ju was not satisfied and finally decided to sue in the People's Court. On New Year's Eve, Qiu Ju had a difficult labor. With the help of the village head and villagers, they sent Qiu Ju to the hospital overnight, braving the snow and cold. Qiu Ju gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and she and her family were extremely grateful to the village head. The lawsuit was no longer mentioned. However, when Qiu Ju's family was celebrating the baby's full moon, news came from the city court that the village head had been detained. Looking at the dust raised by the police car in the distance, Qiu Ju felt a deep sense of confusion and loss.

  The film "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" is a realistic portrayal of rural life, revolving around the peasant woman Qiu Ju's quest for justice. The film vividly depicts her persistent efforts and truly reflects the state of rural life, interpersonal relationships, and ethics. It simply and directly expresses people's awakening to their own rights. The filming technique is simple and includes some candid shots of real-life scenes, giving the film an extremely strong sense of realism. Gong Li's portrayal of Qiu Ju in Zhang Yimou's documentary-style work is very convincing. Through the story of a "commoner suing an official", the film praises rural women's self-respect, self-reliance, and confidence, as well as their awakening to the concept of rule of law.

  Qiu Ju just wants an explanation, and the film's simple shooting style, combined with some real-life situations, make it an excellent work in Zhang Yimou's filmography. "The Story of Qiu Ju" can be said to be one of Zhang Yimou's best films. This is a documentary-style film that still has Zhang Yimou's characteristic narrative storytelling. At the beginning, Qiu Ju insists on getting an explanation from the village chief, and eventually takes him to court in the city. In the end, when the village chief and Qiu Ju's family make amends, the village chief is taken away. The transformation of the characters' relationships shows Zhang Yimou's emphasis on the narrative aspect of this type of documentary film. The attention paid to vulnerable groups is also one of the reasons why this film has been widely praised.

  For a film like this, Song Dang also has to admit that Zhang Yimou is excellent in both the portrayal of characters and cinematography. Although Song Dang's film "Low Profile" is also excellent and can be said to be innovative, creating a new way of filmmaking, but Song Dang knows his biggest weakness is that "Low Profile" was his first film, no matter how great he was at it, he couldn't hide the awkwardness in filming the script, which is an issue of experience.

  Tonight, the person who announced the best film is still the winner of last year's Venice International Film Festival Golden Lion Award, a famous Russian director known as the "Russian Steven Spielberg", Nikita Mikhalkov. Last year, Nikita won the Best Film award at the 48th Venice National Film Festival for his work "The Spirit of Mongol". He is a very powerful and excellent director, and Song Tang has always had a respectful attitude towards him.

  The entire Saragrande theater was electrified as Nikita took the stage. At 47 years old, Nikita sports a classic Russian goatee, but it doesn't detract from his image, instead making him look more polished and mature.

  Nikita stepped onto the stage and didn't keep everyone in suspense for too long, which matched his efficient image. Nikita has fluent English and after opening the envelope in his hand, he directly announced in fluent English: "The winners of the 49th Venice International Film Festival Silver Lion Award are..."

  "Jamón, jamón! ?Viva Espa?a!"

  "Unfinished Love in This Life Claude Sautet!"

  "Zhang Yimou's 'The Story of Qiu Ju'!"

  As Nikita announced each award, the entire Saralang Theater erupted in a warm applause, the high-spirited atmosphere and enthusiastic cheers even made Song Tang feel a little stunned.

  After the Silver Lion Award for Best Film was announced, what surprised Song Tang was that there was no work of his own. Song Tang knew his exhaustion when filming "Vulgarity", although he was a bit awkward during filming, but it is undeniable that "Vulgarity" is indeed an excellent film, because the unique method used in filming "Vulgarity" makes it one of the most important films of the 90s.

  But now, it didn't even get the Silver Lion Award for Best Film this time, which made Song Tang feel slightly disappointed. And beside Song Tang, Jessica and Angelina, John three people, when Nikita announced the winner list, couldn't help but feel tense for Song Tang, especially Jessica and Angelina two people showed the most prominent performance, with Nikita's stage, they were always in a state of tension, their hands tightly grasping Song Tang's arm without letting go, which made Song Tang secretly smile bitterly: it seems that tomorrow will be another day of rumors flying everywhere!

  "Tian Xin, An Qi, if you two don't let go of each other's hands, I reckon we'll be famous by tomorrow!"

  "Ah!" "Ah!" It wasn't until Song Tang spoke up that the two of them realized their mistake, and saw John and others standing beside them with ambiguous smiles. Jessica and Angelina's faces immediately turned bright red as they quickly let go of Song Tang's arm.

  "Hehe, Song, what you said is incorrect. You are now a celebrity, and you should say that these two beautiful ladies will become famous once they understand!"

  "Haha ~~" John's words suddenly brought a burst of laughter.

  "Haha~" Song Tang couldn't help but smile awkwardly, then continued to congratulate Zhang Yimou: "Congratulations, Mr. Zhang, the film won the Silver Lion Award for Best Film."

  "Thank you, Mr. Song!" Although Zhang Yimou didn't get the result he was satisfied with this time in Venice, after all "The Story of Qiu Ju" had already won the Best Actress award at this year's Venice Film Festival, and now it also received the Silver Lion for Best Film, so it can be said that he has achieved both fame and fortune. At this moment, seeing Song Tang's congratulatory words, he happily replied.

  The awards ceremony began with the award for the film "Ham, Ham". Bigas Luna is known as the "old pervert" in Spain and his films are often erotic works. This film is no exception and is called "the old pervert's masterpiece" in Spain. It was not easy for this film to win the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. At that moment, Bigas Luna on stage was also very excited. Song Tang looked at Bigas Luna on stage who was "spraying saliva everywhere", Song Tang couldn't help but cover his mouth!

  "Tang, do you dislike him that much?" Angela, who had been paying attention to Song Tang beside her, couldn't help but point at Picasso on the podium and ask with a burning expression.

  "Him? I dislike him?" Song Tang shook his head somewhat disdainfully.

  Angela looked at Song Tang with a disdainful gaze, and suddenly her eyes sparkled with amusement, followed by a burst of laughter. Angela really couldn't have imagined that Song Tang had such a side to him, because in Angela's eyes, Song Tang always wore a smiling face, no matter what time it was. However, Angela knew that although Song Tang's smile remained on his face, his inner heart was extremely proud and difficult to get close to, even for those around him.

  "What kind of person are you?" At this time, Angelina began to become curious about Song Tang!

  After Begas, it was Claude's romantic musical film "The Unfinished Love", followed by Zhang Yimou's film "Qiu Ju Goes to Court". Although Zhang Yimou's "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" did not win the Golden Lion Award for Best Film, Song Tang still felt a little regretful. Because in his past life, the 49th Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion Award for Best Film was indeed won by Zhang Yimou's "Qiu Ju Goes to Court".

  At that time, before the establishment of China Film, the mainland's films had little influence and competitiveness in the world. At that time, there were not many famous films on the mainland either. For a film that could have won the Golden Lion Award but ultimately did not, Song Tang still felt a small regret in his heart, even though he was not a fan of Zhang Yimou.

  But in fact it is! Song Tang can't change!