387. Pressure Has Come to the Golden Bear
Just as Lu Ban was winning awards galore at Cannes, the Golden Bear jury in Berlin was in a dilemma.
According to current regulations, one cannot participate in the three major film festivals at the same time.
In other words, to win an award at a film festival, a film must premiere at that festival. Therefore, in the past decade or so, no film has won major awards at two film festivals simultaneously.
This has a somewhat mutually exclusive meaning.
After all, according to the judges' standards, if a film wins the Palme d'Or, it should not win the Golden Bear or the Golden Lion.
After all, writers are always a bit jealous of each other. If you think something is good, I have to find fault with it, otherwise I'll feel like I'm just following your lead in judging the award.
However, this time, "Spring No War" left the Golden Bear judges a little unsure of what to do.
These judges had all seen the film in France and were naturally deeply moved.
If "Spring No War" had premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, then without a doubt, all the Golden Bear awards would have gone to Lu Ban; he could have given him as many as he wanted!
But now, the Palme d'Or has taken the lead and awarded the grand prize.
What about our Golden Bear?
If you say that Lu Ban shouldn't be allowed to participate in the exhibition, then wouldn't the quality of the works in this year's Golden Bear be more than a dozen times worse than the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion?
But if Lu Ban were to participate in the exhibition, wouldn't people say that the Golden Bear have poor aesthetic sense and only follow trends?
The judges were extremely conflicted.
Of course, they eventually compromised.
Imagine if future generations looked back at the works of this year's three major art film festivals and found that the Palme d'Or went to "Spring No War," while the Golden Bear and Golden Lion went to other films. Wouldn't they question the judging standards of the Golden Bear?
Even worse, what if the Golden Bear, following the rules, didn't include "Spring No War" in the competition, but those Italians who eat potatoes every day made an exception and let "Spring No War" win the Golden Lion?
Where does that leave the dignity of Great Germany?
With this in mind, the judges accepted "Spring No War" as their entry.
Naturally, if "Spring No War" could sweep Cannes, it could also sweep Berlin.
In July, the Golden Bear, a rare Spring No War " achieve a grand slam, sweeping several awards including the Golden Bear for Best Picture, the Silver Bear for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.
Thus, the only remaining chapter in "Spring No War"'s journey at the three major art film festivals was the Golden Lion at Venice.
As the film is released in various countries and regions, more and more people are experiencing what "Lu Ban's healing power" truly means.
In North America, a New York Times commentator offered the following review of Lu Ban's work:
"Spring No War is a film that guides people to feel hope by showing despair. Like many war films, although they meticulously depict the details of war, they actually evoke the fear and disgust of the general public about war by realistically showing its cruelty, thus achieving the purpose of anti-war. Director Lu Ban's film undoubtedly uses the detailed depiction and portrayal of a world full of despair, and the destruction of beautiful things to evoke the audience's hatred and fear of such a world, so as to cherish the existing world more and be full of hope for life. Therefore, it can be said that this is an anti-despair film!"
In the UK, The Times interviewed a professor of film and communication studies at Cambridge University, asking for her opinion on "Spring No War." She stated:
"Spring No War" is an experimental film in which the audience, director, and actors participated together. After watching the film, the audience became part of the story, and together with other viewers who had not yet seen it, they performed the content of the story. Director Lu Ban used delicate emotions, gorgeous visuals, and a cruel plot to make the audience empathize, which is why the current effect was achieved. It can be said that there may be scripts like this in the future, directors like this in the future, and actors like this in the future, but only this film, Spring No War, can achieve perfection by combining all three.
The island nation, which is most similar to the setting Harmony Island in "Spring No War," saw its Yomiuri Shimbun angrily criticize Lu Ban's film.
"While the island culture depicted in ' Spring No War aware' (the pathos of things), it is fundamentally different from the Harmony Island government and our government. Our country would never engage in the kind of deception and harming of innocent girls depicted in the film. Director Lu Ban's act of subtly satirizing our traditional culture through the film is a desecration of art!"
Of course, despite the criticism, "Spring No War" quickly became the number one film at the Japanese box office. Coupled with the Japanese people's tendency to take things too seriously, the box office continued to climb, and it quickly reached the top spot of the year.
Wang Qing, a reporter from China Movie Report, had the opportunity to interview Lu Ban and wrote a brief interview article.
Q: Director Lu Ban, what are your thoughts on the international acclaim for "Spring No War"?
A: I believe that art transcends borders. This film allows people to feel something similar, transcending culture and country. This shows that our human civilization has certain commonalities, and these commonalities are the bonds that maintain our society.
Q: What is your opinion on the negative reviews from the official media of the island nation?
A: What I'm showing is the scenery of the Harmony Island. It may have some similarities to real countries, but it's actually completely different. As for some people taking it personally, I can only wonder how much free time they have.
Q: Some people say that you are a domestic director, but you use the background and culture of other countries to make movies, which is suspected of being a Western worshipper. What do you think?
A: A story needs a suitable medium. This story takes place on the Harmony Island, which is something neither you nor I can change. I cannot hypocritically alter what has already happened. My best quality is honesty.
Q: Some critics have also said that you advertised yourself as a healer, but instead presented an incredibly cruel story, and that you are suspected of using this publicity to deceive the audience. What do you think?
A: I don't think there's a conflict. A thousand readers will have a thousand Hamlets. Some people think my movie is cruel, some people think it's healing, and some people may think the ending of the movie isn't dark and cruel enough. It's precisely because you can see so many different things from one ending that the story can be pondered and savored repeatedly.
Q: Finally, there's a question about Amber. Her actress hasn't appeared yet. Is this some kind of publicity stunt or presentation method?
A: Why don't I let her answer this question herself?
Q: So, where is Miss Amber?
A: She's right here.
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