381. Did He Bribe Them?

"A new movie? Yes, we'll be able to see it then, right?"

Bai Qiquan was somewhat distracted during his video call with his girlfriend.

Bai Qiquan had just finished his holiday during the Chinese New Year and was about to have another holiday. Although he had been working overtime until 10 p. m. every day for more than a month, he still felt that this job was really great.

He was planning to take his girlfriend on a trip abroad during the holidays, and when they were discussing the destination, the topic of film festivals came up.

"Cannes is in France? I'd really like to go to France."

His girlfriend Pang Zhen, stayed in Yannan for work, and the two were currently in a long-distance relationship. However, Bai Qiquan felt that, based on his current income, it wouldn't be long before Pang Zhen could come to Jiangcheng to find an easier job and slack off.

"How about we go to France for a trip and see one of your movies while we're there?"

Pang Zhen had a sudden inspiration and offered a suggestion.

"Ah, I've watched this countless times myself. It's a heartwarming, artistic romance film. I think it will be released in China soon?"

Bai Qiquan wasn't quite sure.

He wasn't optimistic about the film's box office performance.

Although the film was excellent, he felt it wasn't as impactful as "The Demon Tide." Moreover, the audience for this kind of art-house romance film is not as large as that for epic blockbusters, and it wasn't released globally simultaneously. Its box office performance might even be lower than that of previous films like "The Mouth of the Madman" or "The Crying."

Moreover, it's a rare treat to go abroad with your girlfriend, and then you end up watching a movie you made yourself. Isn't that a bit... unpleasant?

"Then can't you watch it with me?"

Pang Zhen said angrily.

"Yes, no problem at all, it would be my pleasure!"

Bai Qiquan didn't hesitate.

Where we go isn't important, what matters is who we go with; what movie we watch isn't important either, what matters is who we watch it with.

Anyway, I have enough money.

Was this movie good?

Pang Zhen asked again.

"It's alright, it's quite heartwarming and healing, a road movie with a little bit of adventure."

Bai Qiquan thought for a moment and then answered.

"Then I'll recommend it to my friends and help you boost the box office."

Pang Zhen said excitedly.

"Is it supposed to be released domestically in May? I'm not sure about the schedule, it might be in June or July."

Bai Qiquan and his team are not in charge of distribution, nor do they know the specific release date.

However, the films in the exhibition will definitely be screened in France during the film festival.

It is said that some die-hard fans of Lu Ban have already booked their flights and hotels to Cannes, just waiting to be among the first to see the film.

Bai Qiquan didn't quite understand.

After ending the video call and saying goodnight to his girlfriend, Bai Qiquan's nightlife could finally begin.

He didn't play games because Pang Zhen had recently learned to check his match history. If he were caught playing ARAM late at night, he would probably get a lecture.

He could only use his small trumpet to go to the suburbs to play.

However, Bai Qiquan really didn't play games today.

He scrolled through videos, watching some supernatural short videos to help him sleep, and then he saw a notification.

Cannes jury member Merritt Rice praised director Lu Ban's new film.

This is a short press release, mainly about the preparations for the Cannes Film Festival and the films participating in the festival, with an interview with some well-known jury members in the middle.

Among them, Ms. Merritt's interview was particularly noteworthy.

First of all, she is a sharp-tongued queen, best at using incisive words to criticize works, and she basically condemns the works of commercial directors.

Secondly, she had previously published a short article arguing that Lu Ban's film didn't even deserve a nomination, which garnered some attention, mainly because many of Lu Ban's haters in China kept repeating it like gospel.

Therefore, Ms. Merritt's sudden change of attitude in this news article is quite surprising.

"After watching ' Spring No War,' I thought a lot. I had many words to describe the film, but in the end I gave up on describing it because any words would be Pale and blasphemous. The best way to present a film is through the film itself. I believe that every viewer who watches this film can feel its unique charm."

Upon seeing this statement, Bai Qiquan was momentarily taken aback.

Wasn't this person criticizing the movie before, but changed their mind after watching it?

Isn't this a bit too much?

Bai Qiquan had watched the entire movie. He asked himself honestly, and while the content was excellent, it was just excellent. How could Director Lu have transformed a film critic who was prejudiced from the beginning into the way he is now? Did he really add some computer components to the movie?

No, it's really not that bad.

He scrolled down through the comments.

[Director Lu's films are truly unbeatable! This judge, who used to look down on him, is now fawning over him!]

Am I the only one who finds this strange? A judge who was angrily criticizing Lu Ban just a week ago is suddenly praising him now? Could it be that they were paid off and changed their tune, or was this all part of Lu Ban's publicity stunt?

This comment doesn't contain any key information; it feels like it could be applied to any movie. It's probably just platitudes.

I can understand if you say Lu Ban's movies are scary, since everyone has been frightened before, but Cannes is an art award. Do his horror films really have any artistic merit?

I still have a lot of faith in Director Lu's abilities. He managed to silence those picky judges with the quality of his work—that's amazing!

[No way, no way, are there still people who don't understand the art of creating buzz through controversy? First, someone gets angry and criticizes to attract attention, then they whitewash the image and hype it up from the opposite perspective. It's an old marketing tactic.]

When will this movie be released in China? Is it only showing overseas and not in China?

The comments section was once again a battle of words, something Bai Qiquan had seen countless times before. At first, he was furious, watching those who were stirring up trouble get angry and grit their teeth.

But later he didn't care anymore. After all, his work wasn't worth money, and not everyone would like it.

However, seeing these comments still made him uneasy.

If Bai Qiquan hadn't seen the original film, he might have thought it was incredibly amazing. But he had seen it, and Bai Qiquan on his own opinion, it didn't seem to be as good as some people claimed.

"Did Director Lu really slip some money?"

He was also somewhat uncertain.

The Cannes Film Festival will open in mid-May.

This year's film festival received more commercial attention due to the release of Lu Ban's film. Hotels around the city were fully booked a month in advance, and even hotels in neighboring cities were not guaranteed to be available.

In the past, tickets for many films at the film festival were readily available and there was no need to worry about not being able to buy them. However, this year, tickets for "Spring No War" were extremely difficult to obtain, which led to a significant increase in ticket sales for other films as well.

Fortunately, Bai Qiquan had two movie tickets given to him by his company.

You can bring your girlfriend to watch it together.