Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 135

Cannes International Film Festival (2)

*

Cannes International Film Festival.

Unless you’re an avid fan, critic, or reporter, you might not realize Cannes has a surprisingly long schedule.

The first reason:

Cannes isn’t just an awards ceremony where they hand out prizes and send you on your way.

It’s a festival *for* filmmakers.

“Jang, over here! Look over here!”

“Hey, baldy! Stop pushing!”

“You stop pushing me! You’re making my lungs shrink!”

The press’s fervor is even hotter than the Nice sun.

Flashes explode as the stars walk the red carpet, and bodyguards block reporters trying to get even a step closer.

“Julien, what do you think about the Palme d’Or this year?”

A reporter asks a handsome man with a long beard.

He’s a Norwegian director who also works as an actor, screenwriter, and producer.

“I don’t know. Only our jury president knows.”

“Then what do *you* think, Julien? Surely there’s a film you’ve been watching closely.”

The jury lineup for this year’s Cannes is legendary in many ways. This guy is easier to deal with than the notoriously picky French actor and jury president, Rambosh.

The actor and director smiled.

“Well, I haven’t seen them all yet.”

The second reason:

Because of the films that are revealed at the festival, which even the jury hasn’t seen, let alone the reporters from each country.

At Cannes, invited films are revealed one after another from the first day to the second day, and then the next.

[What number is ‘Black Exorcist’ screening?]

[Two invited to the competition… One in the non-competition section, critic Hwang Hyung-sik says, “It’s actually better”]

[Two actors with the Taegeuk mark [Korean flag]… Park Geon or Lee Gil-woo, what are the chances for ‘Black Exorcist’ and ‘Beyond the Sunset’?]

How disappointing would it be to invite leading directors and actors and have everything end on the first day?

That’s why the awards ceremony is scheduled for the last day, the closing ceremony, after all the films have been screened.

When the summer sun cools down a bit, that’s when the owner of the glorious Palme d’Or is decided.

“So, who’s the frontrunner this time?”

“Is there even a frontrunner? Last year, the Daily ratings were completely different, weren’t they?”

“The most likely ones are ‘The Week’ and ‘O’Shallock Much’. And maybe ‘SeSeBi’ (Saint Seina Venus)? Only Rambosh knows.”

Before the next photo wall, reporters chat during a break.

Human nature is more interested in the potential winners than the ritual itself.

The eyes of filmmakers around the world are focused on which of the films invited to Cannes, especially the 20 or so in the competition section, will take home the Palme d’Or.

Will it be ‘The Week’, which deals with the Great Depression of 1929, or ‘O’Shallock Much’, a black comedy that sharply satirizes society?

Or will it be ‘Saint Seina Venus’, in which the previous year’s Best Actor winner gives another stellar performance?

In the excited atmosphere,

The ‘Black Exorcist’ team also welcomed their first day.

“It’s like a bean sprout pot [crowded and stifling],” Lee Jang-mi commented leisurely after escaping the red carpet surrounded by reporters and entering the building.

Everywhere you look, there are stellar actors, but she doesn’t seem to care much.

Of course, there’s one person who’s undeniably nervous.

“Uh… there’s no need to be nervous. Hyung [older brother/male friend] is the most handsome here, okay? Ben Erto is taller, but you’ve already won with your mask…”

They’re in front of world stars they’ve only seen on movie screens. Unlike in Korea, Park Seon seemed intimidated and had been rambling on since a while ago.

Lee Jang-mi couldn’t stand it anymore and said a word.

“Calm down yourself first. The manager looks the most anxious here.”

“Huh, really? Is it that obvious?”

“It’s okay, Seon-ssi [Mr./Ms. Seon]. I’m getting weak in the knees too.”

“CEO!”

Lee Jang-mi, shaking her head as she watched CEO Tae Jong-beom and Park Seon holding hands, asked,

“How about oppa [older brother/male friend]? He’s such a Taoist, I don’t think he’d care much.”

“Me?”

Geon looked around the hall full of people.

“It feels like I’m back home.”

“Hey, it’s your first time in France.”

Lee Jang-mi laughed as if to say not to joke around, but he wasn’t joking.

The exterior of the Iron Kingdom is like medieval Europe on Earth. Of course, there were hardly any black-haired people, and there were blondes, redheads, and even silver-haired people.

‘I only met other races when I went south, near the Arnia Strait.’

“But, oppa.”

Lee Jang-mi called out without moving her lips much. Her big eyes, without double eyelids, held a faint hostility.

“Don’t you think these people are ignoring us?”

The rest of the ‘Black Exorcist’ team came over. Director Kim Ryul, who hadn’t said anything until now, added briefly.

“It’s been like that since we came out of the photo wall.”

“Right? Director Kim felt it too, right? What is it, what era is it, that they’re ignoring us because we’re Asian?”

“It’s partly race… but fame probably plays a part too. From their perspective, we’re strangers who don’t know anything.”

Lee Jang-mi’s expression also hardened at Kim Ryul’s words.

It was something she had been feeling to some extent.

Here in Cannes, everything is determined by popularity: the hotels in Croisette, the entrance to the red carpet, and the heat of the reporters taking pictures of the actors.

CEO Tae Jong-beom muttered with a face like he had swallowed a stone.

“It’s worse than Korea, damn it.”

Is that really the case? Geon felt a bit of interest and heightened his senses.

‘It’s similar here and there…’

After observing, it was somewhat true. They had been in one place for quite a while, but no one approached them.

A white actress glanced at them and immediately turned around to greet her friend.

“Charles! It’s been so long!”

They were shaking hands, hugging, and even doing *bises* (French cheek kisses) with each other, but they were treating them like cold rice and passing them by.

That’s because, except for Park Geon, who had become a global fan favorite with ‘White-Clad General’, everyone else was close to being unknown.

Kim Ryul and Lee Jang-mi, and even Lee Gil-woo from ‘Beyond the Sunset’, who was also invited, had little activity overseas.

“Geez, we should at least gather with people from our hometown. I’m so sad, I’ll get some champagne.”

“The ‘Beyond the Sunset’ team seemed to be leaving right away? They didn’t want to see this… Ah.”

It was when Lee Jang-mi, who was looking around, stumbled on the hem of her dress. A tall actor who happened to be passing by supported her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The entire ‘Black Exorcist’ team is basically capable of speaking English. The blonde actor, who smiled charmingly, suddenly switched to French.

“This isn’t a place for staff, did you get lost? And you’re even dressed in suits.”

Kim Ryul, who understood French along with Park Geon, had a change in expression.

“Huh? What’s wrong, what is he saying?”

“He’s telling us to leave. He says this isn’t a place for staff.”

“…What?”

Although PC-ism [political correctness] has recently spread to all walks of life, selective racism is still rampant.

They were treating the unknown director and actors, who had no career yet, and who were Asian, as if they were air.

“These bastards, their heads need to be cracked with lighting equipment…”

“Hold on. They’re just trying to scratch your nerves.”

It’s understandable to be upset if the first outsider to come to Cannes is being ridiculed.

Moreover, the guy who started the trouble wasn’t going anywhere and was smirking. When Kim Ryul stopped the furious Lee Jang-mi, a dignified British accent was heard.

“Black Exorcist(Saint in dark)?”

When they turned around, there was an old man with white hair. He was leaning on a cane with a bent back, and his eyes in his monocle were shining brightly.

Before Geon could answer, Director Kim Ryul’s eyes widened.

“Scott Fitzgerald… !”

August Scott Fitzgerald.

A master of the film industry who has filmed countless masterpieces, crossing Hollywood and New York since his debut.

He must have been here for a while, since the movie he directed was also invited to the competition section.

“Ah, you’ve arrived.”

The blonde actor also politely paid his respects, but Scott Fitzgerald briefly greeted him and held out his hand to Geon.

“You must be Park. I enjoyed it; it was a work that was not inferior to the Korean masterpieces that have passed through this place.”

“…”

In an instant, the surroundings became quiet. The officials, who had been pretending not to listen and whispering among themselves while glancing at them, also gaped.

That Fitzgerald had approached an Asian actor first and expressed his friendliness. Amid the hushed murmurs, Geon replied in fluent English.

“Thank you. Before being invited here, I also enjoyed your work.”

“This, I made you suffer. There are so many, you must have fallen asleep while watching.”

Laughter erupted around the master’s joke. Lee Jang-mi, who had been frowning, was also watching Geon and Scott Fitzgerald’s conversation with a curious expression.

“It was a great movie, Kim. I’m looking forward to it after it’s screened.”

“It’s an honor to be on the same screen.”

He didn’t praise them by lumping them together as Korean movies but specifically pointed out ‘Black Exorcist’. It meant that it wasn’t lip service that was conscious of the attention.

Scott Fitzgerald, who also greeted Director Kim Ryul, gave a somewhat reproachful look to the young punk from earlier.

“Andy, should I leave too then?”

“…Yes?”

“The director is also staff. Film is not just a stage for actors, and Cannes is even more so.”

The blonde actor who had started the trouble turned red in the face and apologized.

After he and Scott Fitzgerald left, people began to gather in earnest.

“Nice to meet you; it’s my first time in Cannes too.”

“When is the screening? After the works are revealed, I’ve been holding back from wanting to see them.”

“The ‘Beyond the Sunset’ team came earlier; aren’t you close to them? There were so many things I wanted to ask.”

With just a few words from the world-renowned master, Scott Fitzgerald, the atmosphere was very different from before.

There were still those who sent disapproving glances, but many actors, directors, and producers came to the ‘Black Exorcist’ team and exchanged greetings.

“Hey, Machine Gun! Are you interested in comedy by any chance?”

Among them, a man who looked Asian spoke cheerfully.

Geon tilted his head.

“Machine gun?”

“Your name is Gun, and I got chills as soon as I saw you. I have an amazing sense of smell, as big as my nose. I smell the scent of Best Actor and the world’s toughest comedian from you…”

“Toby, stop it! I told you it’s rude!”

“I’m sorry. This friend is such a crazy guy; he pops out like this if you leave him alone for a second.”

While being dragged away by his colleagues who chased after him, the man called Toby waved his hand.

“Good luck! I really want to invite you to our show, so if you’re interested, come out anytime!”

“…What does he do?”

Lee Jang-mi, who had come out of the actors and stood next to him, asked with a strange expression.

Geon shrugged.

“A comedian headhunter?”

That’s how the first day came to an end.

‘The Week’ was screened, and the next day, ‘Saint Seina Venus’ and ‘O’Shallock Much’ shone on the Cannes screen, attracting a large crowd.

And finally, on the fourth day of the film festival,

After Black Exorcist was released, a quiet shock swept through the beaches of Nice.

-An exquisite *mise-en-scène* [visual theme] of the occult and faith.

-The aesthetics of the most unfaithful priest’s, more sacred sacrifice than anyone else’s.

The Cannes Film Festival’s official daily, , gave ‘Black Exorcist’ a whopping 4-point rating.

The only 4-point rating so far, along with ‘O’Shallock Much’.

In addition, Jury President Rambosh’s interview in the jury speech, saying that “there may be shocking results,” also poured fuel on the fire.

The audience’s reviews and the experts’ reactions also differed. Some criticized it as a religious occult with excessively genre-specific colors, while many praised it as an experimental and surprising form of realizing consciousness.

In addition, several masters who did not attend this film festival also added a word on SNS.

-Magnificent! #Saint in dark

The team that Director Scott Fitzgerald had commented on had emerged as a dark horse in the competition.

.

.

.

“What’s going to happen?”

The hotel used as accommodation. CEO Tae Jong-beom, gathered in the largest room of the Park Geon-Park Seon brothers, rubbed his hands together.

“What do you mean, what’s going to happen? It’s either winning or losing.”

The one who answered was Lee Gil-woo, the lead actor who was invited with their team for ‘Beyond the Sunset’.

After leaving the party on the first day and returning, rejoicing that he had given those high-nosed guys a blow, he often came to hang out and chat.

“So, I’m wondering whether we’ll win or lose! How’s the atmosphere on the actor’s side?”

“Well… it’s not bad. Anyway, after the Daily ratings came out, I gave up hope, so everyone is emptying their minds and hoping to receive something.”

‘Beyond the Sunset’ received a disappointing response after being screened on the second day.

Currently, the works that are selected as promising candidates in various dailies are Italian, French, and the occult of South Korea, which was not expected at all.

Park Seon, who was flipping through the official pamphlet with the schedule written on it, took a deep breath.

“There are only a few hours left. I wish I could get just one award, even a special award.”

“What special award! At least the Grand Prix (Jury Prize), or even Best Actor for Park…”

Lee Jang-mi quickly stopped him.

“Shh. Saying things like that is bad luck.”

“…Jang-mi-ssi, you said you don’t believe in such superstitions when we were filming the movie?”

“That was then.”

As the time approached, even Kim Ryul, who had been calm, had a noticeably nervous expression.

It’s Cannes, no less. Even if it’s not the Palme d’Or, just winning the screenplay award or a special award can leave a mark on Korean film history.

“I have a good feeling.”

At that time, the door opened, and a voice without any sense of tragedy was heard. Lee Jang-mi, who had been controlling the group, saying that it was bad luck, also stared blankly at the door.

A completely different outfit from the suit he wore on the first day.

A jet-black velvet suit, resembling a priest’s robe, made with great care by Armani’s designers, was wrapped around the actor’s body.

“…”

A sense of *déjà vu*, as if they had returned to when they were filming the movie a year ago, swept over the group.

The actor, once Priest Seo Yohan, who is ready to take glory, says:

“Let’s go, to confirm our destiny.”