"Hey, Duke, over here!"
"Ms. Theron, please look this way!"
Walking down the red carpet, Duke and the others had just arrived at the photo area in front of the Festival Palace when countless reporters swarmed them. Standing behind the designated perimeter, they kept shouting the crew members' names and rapidly pressing their shutters to capture every moment.
Because of his age and poor health, Anthony Hopkins didn't stay in the photo area and went straight up the steps.
Duke, Charlize Theron, Tom Cruise, and James Franco stood side by side, allowing the reporters to take pictures. When they heard their names called, the three actors turned and waved, fully showing their best sides.
Compared to them, Duke remained the same old self—this was, after all, the actors' moment to shine.
Charlize Theron's hair had grown quite long, carefully combed to the right side. Wearing a goose-yellow low-cut evening gown paired with simple accessories, she exuded nobility and elegance. She was tall and slender, wearing five-inch stiletto heels easily the tallest among Duke's group.
Fortunately, no one objected. Duke himself didn't mind. James Franco wasn't prominent enough, and Tom Cruise was used to being alongside Nicole Kidman.
After staying a few minutes in the photo area, since there had been a press conference earlier, Duke and the others didn't do any more interviews but walked up the grand steps of the Festival Palace.
In front of the palace stood many famous directors and actors from around the world, but excluding those from Hollywood and the other side of the Pacific, Duke barely recognized anyone or wanted to socialize. In terms of film itself, he and they belonged to completely different worlds.
Walking toward the jury, Duke first shook hands with Isabelle Huppert. They exchanged brief greetings without much talk.
Duke knew very well that Warner Bros. had already handled most of the PR, so he didn't need to say much.
"Hi, Robert."
At a Latin director's side, Duke extended his hand. Robert Rodriguez shook it. "Hello, Duke."
This director, known for his absurd style and who once strapped a machine gun onto his wife's leg to fight zombies in a film, was undoubtedly a representative of Hollywood's cult and grindhouse genres. Looking at Duke, he said, "I heard this is an extraordinary film? The style is really, really interesting?"
"You'll see very soon," Duke replied.
Robert Rodriguez nodded. "I've always wanted to see what kind of cult you guy would create."
In Hollywood, Duke had always been a very mainstream, orthodox director, never touching cult elements. "Fury Road" had already been heavily promoted, filled with all sorts of bizarre elements.
After shaking hands with several jurors from around the world, Duke finally reached a petite woman.
"Never thought we'd meet here. Nat."
He extended his right hand to Natalie Portman, but she only lightly touched it before pulling her hand back. "I didn't expect it either."
After saying this, she tightly closed her mouth but her eyes remained fixed on Charlize Theron behind Duke.
Charlize Theron didn't even glance at Natalie Portman. She passed right in front of her, catching up to Duke in a few steps. "I heard she also tried to compete for the role of Furiosa?"
"I rejected her," Duke didn't hide it.
Charlize glanced back, speaking quietly, "I suggest you stay away from her. She's very hypocritical."
Seeing Duke didn't care much, she added, "Everyone in the industry is hypocritical, but few reach Natalie Portman's level."
Duke shook his head, "I know what to do."
Even though she hadn't made many outstanding works in recent years, and the movie "V for Vendetta" had been banned in many countries including the UK, Natalie Portman maintained an excellent public image definitely a Hollywood actress with a unique persona. As for how she truly was behind the scenes, who really cared?
Looking back at Natalie Portman, Duke recalled a passage he once read—"I have tattoos, drink, smoke, and swear…but I know I'm a good girl. True bes pretend to be innocent and pure, act shy, and wear pink clothes. Men are shallow and only see the surface. So, they miss the good girls and end up hurt by bes. Only women can tell who the real b****es are."
Natalie Portman's eyes kept stealing glances at Charlize Theron's back, her clear eyes showing some jealousy. She had already seen all the trailers for "Fury Road." Regardless of the film's quality, the female lead alone was stunning—an original role she had fought for but ultimately lost to a model with no real acting skills, a huge irony.
If it came to acting skills, she could easily surpass her, but regarding Hollywood status, how far away was she?
A camera flash lit up across the way. Natalie Portman slightly lowered her eyelids. The jealousy instantly vanished, replaced by her usual bright and charming image, fully showing her best side to reporters and media, as if nothing had happened.
Her manager mother once told her she was Jewish and had studied in Jerusalem that when the time was right, what belonged to her would be hers, no one could take it away…
But how long would that take?
Watching Duke and Charlize Theron's figures, Natalie Portman gradually had some thoughts.
At the Festival Palace, Duke also saw many familiar faces from Hollywood, like Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman.
But this wasn't a place for talking. They simply exchanged greetings. In some ways, he and Quentin Tarantino were competitors, as Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" was also competing at this festival.
However, as a parody film, it was unlikely to win the most prestigious awards.
As night fell, guests gradually entered the Festival Palace. Following Cannes Film Festival tradition, the entire "Fury Road" crew came in last. After waiting a bit in the VIP lounge, staff notified them and led Duke and his group into the screening hall, where everyone stood up and applauded, paying tribute to the crew.
People like Duke never lose composure in public. He walked while nodding greetings around him. Over 2,000 people flooded into the main hall of the festival palace. Aside from guests and media, there were also many regular audience members.
Compared to the routine applause from the guests, the applause from the crowd behind was much louder, truly reflecting the different opinions various groups held about Duke the director.
Of course, the crowd was also who Duke cared about most.
A director once said when shooting and producing a film, the audience is not present and must be ignored.
This saying isn't without reason. But if the audience can be ignored, then once the film is made, the director should just hide in the editing room and watch it quietly, instead of screening it publicly.
If you don't respect the audience as a group, act as if they don't exist, and still want them to pay for the film, to put it bluntly, how is that different from being hypocritical?
Amid the applause, Duke and the others reached the front-row crew seats. After everyone around sat down, they took their seats.
"I don't understand why a purely commercial director's work can become the opening film at the festival,"
From the guest seats behind, South Korean director Lim Kwon-jae said with a hint of disdain, "The Cannes Film Festival is simply degrading itself!"
Beside him, Kang Dae-gyu nodded in agreement, "Exactly!"
Park Chan-wook, who never got along with these two, glanced over and then said to Kang Dae-gyu, "Your most famous work Taegukgi borrowed and copied from Saving Private Ryan so much. Domestic media don't mention it, but do you act as if it never happened?"
"You…" Kang Dae-gyu looked at him.
Park Chan-wook just shook his head, pointing to his own forehead, "Maybe use your brain before you talk?"
These three South Korean directors' opinions were just a snapshot.
Quentin Tarantino looked at Duke vaguely visible ahead; there was no contempt in his eyes, only a desire to see the film quickly. From the trailer and posters, he thought this would be a style he liked very much.
Brad Pitt, lead actor of Inglourious Basterds, sat beside him, considering another question how to collaborate with him!
His studio closely aligned with Warner Bros., sharing many common interests with Duke Rosenberg…
Row after row of ceiling lights went out, and the noisy hall gradually quieted. The big screen lit up, first showing the Warner Bros. logo.
The film had no preamble, jumping straight into the story. But the first thing shown was not an image but a brief text this is a post-nuclear war world; the land is dry and heavily acidified. For the surviving humans to live, only...
"Interesting!" Quentin Tarantino instinctively pinched his chin.
This sudden jump to a text introduction is very common in Hollywood, but accompanied by a strange soundtrack and narration shots, it even had some of his style.
The screen switched to a panoramic close-up shot, the scene colors extremely saturated. The yellow, representing drought and wasteland, was so rich it seemed to seep out of the screen.
In a patch of yellow sand stood a bizarrely shaped car. A disheveled man stood with his back to the camera, but before the figure could be fully seen, a playful lizard jumped out stealing the spotlight.
The lizard's fate wasn't good. When it darted behind the man, a big foot stomped on it, then it became the man's food!
This heavy-taste scene clearly showed—this was a world desperately lacking food and governed by survival of the fittest!
.....
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Douluo Dalu: Reincarnated as Yan(40 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu