Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 177 The Golden Bear Dispute
Having experience at multiple of the three major film festivals, Gong Li knows that a score of 3.6 is likely the highest this year, and it will probably be difficult to see a score higher in the future.

Seeing Zhou Xun's hurried expression, Gong Li calmly said:
"What's the panic? A high score in the festival program means our film is popular, which is a good thing! This score won't affect the awards, so don't use it to predict the results."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen immediately smiled and said, "Sister Li is right. The program jury and the actual film festival jury are two different people. Besides, the fact that a film is a hot favorite is just a matter of probability, so there's no need to worry."

Hearing Gong Li and Wu Yuchen say this, Zhou Xun and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

After everyone else left, Gong Li and Wu Yuchen got together again: "Director Wu, what do you think about this?"

Although both said it didn't matter, historical data shows that films receiving the highest score in the festival's daily publication do indeed have a low probability of winning Best Picture, less than 20%. A score in the middle to upper range, on the other hand, makes it easier to win. Of course, this is a statistical issue, and the specifics vary from year to year.

Wu Yuchen sighed: "The highest score always has a higher probability of winning than the lowest score. I'm just worried that some judges on the judging panel might have a rebellious mentality. You can never predict people's psychology."

Gong Li nodded in agreement. She had served as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival two years ago and knew that the jury members were all artists and were more likely to come up with eccentricities.

Putting everything else aside, the jury president of that year's competition, Isabelle Adjani, the actress hailed as a French national treasure, was seen by the other judges as a complete drama queen.

Off-stage, Adjani and another female jury member argued over bodyguards arranged by the organizers and occupied the Cannes mayor's private room; during the judging period, Adjani demanded that the jury members have breakfast with her at 7:45 every day and eat diet meals with her, making her the center of attention. Moreover, her opinions on films were constantly changing, with a new idea every day.

The end result was that Adjani angered all the jury members, who then united to sideline her as jury president. This became a running joke at the Cannes Film Festival, and subsequent jury presidents have taken it as a cautionary tale.

Therefore, Gong Li knew that Wu Yuchen's concerns were not unfounded. Some judges might deliberately try to oppose him, and it was hard to say what might happen.

Sometimes, the more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen.

Paulo Blanca, a veteran actor and producer from Portugal, has long been involved in the independent film scene and is one of the jury members at this year's Berlin Film Festival. After watching *Mr. Donkey*, he held the film in high regard, but he disliked director Wu Yuchen.

As a filmmaker who has always supported art films, he believes that since Wu Yuchen started his career with art films and became famous through the Berlin Film Festival, he should stick to art films. He disapproves of Wu Yuchen's behavior of betraying art films and going to Hollywood to make commercial films, which is simply a waste of his talent!
Okay, he admits he's jealous of Wu Yuchen's achievements at such a young age. How come he can switch between Hollywood and the three major film festivals so easily? Making commercial films and earning money in Hollywood while simultaneously racking up awards at the three major festivals—he gets all the good things!

He was even more displeased after seeing the festival's daily ratings give "Mr. Donkey" the highest score and Wu Yuchen such high praise. The three major awards shouldn't be given to those involved in commercial films; they should be reserved for art-house filmmakers!
However, Paul Blanca was clever. He knew that with the quality of the film "Mr. Donkey," it was obviously impossible to make it go home empty-handed, but he could completely prevent it from winning the Golden Bear.

By this time, the Berlin Film Festival was more than halfway through, and the jury was already discussing and evaluating various awards.

When the discussion reached several important awards, Paul Blanca broke the silence by speaking first:
"Let me start by giving my opinion. I think this year's Best Actress award is undisputed and must go to Gong Li! Her performance in 'Mr. Donkey' is unparalleled. I cannot accept any other actress winning it!"

When Xie Fei, a judge from China, heard this, he was secretly delighted. Before he had even opened his mouth, a fan of "Mr. Donkey" or Gong Li had already jumped out. It seemed that "Mr. Donkey" was in a very good position for this award!
"I agree, Gong Li's performance was superb, absolutely award-winning!" another judge said.

Xie Fei naturally followed suit and spoke in support of Gong Li. Just like that, the Best Actress award went to Gong Li almost without any controversy, and "Mr. Donkey" got off to a good start.

The next topic of discussion was Best Actor, which, after some debate, went to Michael Guestek for the German film "The Shape of Night".

Then came the selection of the Best Director award, and one of the judges made the first suggestion:
"I think the credit should go to Terrence Malick, the director of The Thin Red Line. This film is anti-genre and subverts the Hollywood model. Although the film has big stars like Sean Penn, George Clooney, and Travolta, the real star of the film is the director's unique approach."

Paul's eyes lit up at the words, sensing his opportunity had arrived, and he immediately raised his weapon.
"I completely agree with you. Terrence Malick has brought us a great film after 20 years. I think it deserves more than just Best Director. This film should win the Golden Bear!"

The other judges were taken aback. Wasn't this about the Best Director award? How did it suddenly turn to the Golden Bear?
At this point, jury president Angela Molina reminded him, "Paul, let's discuss the director's award first."

"Oh no, Angela, now is the perfect time to discuss this. Otherwise, can you guarantee that after giving Best Director to Terrence, you'll still give it the Golden Bear? 'The Thin Red Line' is definitely this year's Golden Bear for Best Film!"

Seeing that Paul had brought up the issue of dividing the cake, the other judges simply joined in:
"No, I propose the Golden Bear for 'Minlang's Elegy'!"

Paul retorted directly: "Elegy of Min-lang is good, but it's a love story. We have a Berlin Film Festival that prefers political and social issues. The Thin Red Line, with its theme of reflecting on war, is the most suitable and the undisputed winner of the Golden Bear!"

Xie Fei then spoke up: "I suggest giving it to 'Mr. Donkey'!"

“By the same token, I don’t see any political content in ‘Mr. Donkey,’ and it already has a Best Actress award, isn’t that enough?” Paul said, spreading his hands.

Xie Fei quickly realized what was going on. Goodness, you were the one who suggested Gong Li for Best Actress first!
However, Xie Fei remained calm and smiled as he said:
"Oh no, no, no, Paul, if you say this movie has nothing to do with politics, then I can only say you didn't understand it. Please allow me to give you a proper overview of the background in China in 1942..."

That's why Xie Fei is here. If it were Yang Ziqiong, she wouldn't know anything about the background, no matter what.

After Xie Fei finished speaking, he then said:

"Therefore, there are many political metaphors in the film 'Mr. Donkey.' You can't say it has nothing to do with politics just because you don't understand China. Moreover, China at that time was also part of the battlefield of World War II."

Before Paul could speak, another judge, Ken Adam, said, "Oh, thank you, thank you so much for your explanation. I didn't realize that 'Mr. Donkey' contained so many subtle political metaphors!"

Then he turned to the other judges: “Mr. Donkey is a really great film and the biggest surprise of this film festival. It perfectly blends humanity, politics and feminism together. I can hardly not vote for it as the best film.”

Xie Fei looked at Ken Adam with delight and gave him a kind smile.

Upon hearing this, Paul immediately emphasized, "Mr. Adam, 'Mr. Donkey' is just a comedy!"

Kenyan Adam also refused to back down at this point:
"But it's not an ordinary comedy. It satirizes corruption, bureaucracy, the oppression of women, and the contradictions and darkness of human nature! 'Mr. Donkey' is a darkly humorous absurd comedy that successfully combines comedic elements with political satire and reflection. If you don't understand it and simply dismiss all comedy films, then I think you should read 'Pride and Prejudice'."

Paul opened his mouth, not expecting this old guy to be so enthusiastic in defending "Mr. Donkey." Did you get paid?
He quickly added, "Terrence Malick's comeback after a 20-year hiatus brings a masterpiece that champions anti-Hollywood sentiment, representing the attitude of European cinema. From any perspective, we should support 'The Thin Red Line'!"

Ken Adam scoffed: "Oh, you're right. I fully support Terrence Malick. His anti-Hollywood filmmaking style makes him a worthy candidate for Best Director. As for *The Thin Red Line*, don't you know its investors are Sony Columbia? According to your logic, we shouldn't have given it the Golden Bear!"

Xie Fei was quite surprised to see Ken Adam singing praises to "Mr. Donkey" and going head-to-head with Paul. He hadn't expected this previously quiet old man to be so fierce, even more enthusiastic than him, a Chinese judge. It seemed he truly loved "Mr. Donkey"!
“Young man, you should improve your appreciation skills!” Nearly 80-year-old Kenyan Adam, relying on his age, said rudely to Paul, who was 30 years younger than him.

Seeing that he couldn't win an argument with the old man, Paul had no choice but to call for help. He was close to Angela Molina, the chair of this year's jury, and looked to her for assistance.

Angela Morena really wanted to support her native Spanish film, but it was disappointing; it wasn't even qualified to compete for the Golden Bear. Only three or four films were nominated for the Golden Bear this year: *The Thin Red Line*, *Mr. Donkey*, *Elegy of Min Lang*, and *8mm*.

Seeing the group arguing fiercely before her, Angela knew that her preferences were important to the final outcome, and she had to step in to maintain order...

Because of Wu Yuchen's participation in this year's Berlin Film Festival and the film "Mr. Donkey", several domestic media outlets, such as Film Weekly and China Film News, gritted their teeth and sent reporters to the festival to provide live coverage.

After all, the cast of "Mr. Donkey" is truly luxurious. Director Wu Yuchen goes without saying, and the lead actress is Gong Li. Li Xuejian, Zhang Guoli, and Ding Jiali are also absolute powerhouses. In addition, there are Zhou Xun, Fu Dalong, Sun Honglei, and others who have started to emerge in the last two years. Therefore, high hopes are naturally placed on "Mr. Donkey" for its trip to Berlin.

Now, reporters from several media outlets have gathered together, holding a complete score sheet from the festival's main competition section, and they are all visibly excited.

"Sure enough, there's no higher rating than 'Mr. Donkey,' ranking first with a score of 3.6, the highest score in the festival's program!"

"Is 'Mr. Donkey' now in the bag?" "Pretty much. Look at the second place, 'The Thin Red Thread,' which only has 3.2 points, a full 0.4 points lower than 'Mr. Donkey.' The difference is obvious!"

Several Chinese journalists were extremely excited. As it was their first time attending the Berlin Film Festival, they were all novices and knew nothing about the festival. They completely regarded the festival's ratings as authoritative and immediately faxed the news back to China.

In China, the Spring Festival had just ended, and it was only the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Newspapers and magazines were still on hiatus, but upon receiving the news, the newspapers and magazines still called people to work overtime and write the relevant articles.

On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, people returned to work after the Spring Festival holiday, and newsstands on the streets became bustling again. The front page of the *China Film News* prominently displayed there read:

"Mr. Donkey's outstanding ratings make it the biggest favorite for the Berlin Golden Bear and it's receiving a huge following!"

This headline naturally attracted many movie lovers, who bought newspapers to read it. After watching "Mr. Donkey" and receiving the highest score, the readers were overjoyed. The magazine's score was far ahead, so this time it was a sure thing!
As a result, those who read the newspaper began to tell their friends and colleagues, and for a time, the whole country was filled with anticipation for "Mr. Donkey".

The Berlin Film Festival, with its more than ten days of screenings, has come to a close. On the closing ceremony's red carpet, "Mr. Donkey" was undoubtedly the most anticipated film. The film's high quality, coupled with its outstanding score of 3.6 in the festival's daily publication, made it the focus of everyone's attention, and the group was greeted with wild cheers as they walked by.

As for the opening film, "Shakespeare in Love," Harvey Weinstein and lead actress Gwyneth Paltrow probably knew it wouldn't be very successful, as they didn't attend at all and had already flown back to the United States to continue focusing their efforts on public relations for the Oscars.

On the red carpet, He Bing and Sun Honglei watched as people on both sides kept calling out "Pei" and "Zhou" to them. Although the fans didn't remember their names and only called them by their characters' names, it still made them very happy. You have to understand that the two of them were completely invisible on the opening red carpet, but now they have made a deep impression on these foreign audience members.

Led by Wu Yuchen and Gong Li, the crew walked the red carpet into the venue, and the awards ceremony officially began shortly afterward.

The awards ceremony began with a variety of minor prizes, including one for Ann Hui's film *Ordinary Heroes*, a result that left Hui quite disappointed. This film, a political drama disguised as a romance, tells the story of Hong Kong's intellectual awakening and challenge to British rule in the 1970s and 80s, but unfortunately, it was not well-received at Berlin. The lead actress, Loletta Lee, who came from Category III films, gave a superb performance; in her previous life, she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress for this role.

After the smaller awards, it was time for the Silver Bear awards. This time, the organizers gave "Shakespeare in Love" a silver bear for outstanding achievement, a sort of saving face to prevent Hollywood films from stopping their participation. The rest were all the highly anticipated and major awards.

"Best Actress... Gong Li, for 'Mr. Donkey'!"

Immediately, the crew of "Mr. Donkey" including Sun Honglei, He Bing, and Zhou Xun cheered.

Wu Yuchen and Gong Li exchanged a glance, then smiled and hugged her: "Congratulations, Sister Li! You've become a double Best Actress winner at the Three Big Three cinemas!"

Gong Li won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival in 92 for her role in "The Story of Qiu Ju". This time, she won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival, making her a double Best Actress winner. She is one of the top actresses among the three major European actresses.

"Thank you, Director Wu!"

Gong Li didn't show any elation, but accepted the congratulations from those around her with a faint smile. She knew that if the cake-sharing theory were followed, her winning Best Actress would reduce the film's chances of winning the Golden Bear. Therefore, although she was happy, she still considered Wu Yuchen's feelings first.

Then, amidst cheers and applause, Gong Li confidently and radiantly walked onto the stage to deliver her acceptance speech.

Wu Yuchen clapped and smiled, but a sense of unease crept into his heart. Was he really going to be cursed with the highest rating in the event program?
Although winning the Best Actress award at Berlin means he didn't leave empty-handed, with such a star-studded cast and "Mr. Donkey" in Berlin, his only goal was the Golden Bear. Without the Golden Bear, other awards would be meaningless to him.

Next up was the Best Actor award, which went to German actor Michael Guestek. Following that was the Best Director award.

"Best Director at this year's Berlin Film Festival..."

At this moment, Wu Yuchen kept praying in his heart that it wasn't him. If it really was him, then the Golden Bear would definitely be doomed.

"Terrence Malick, The Thin Red Line!"

"Yay!" Wu Yuchen shouted in his heart, while a genuine smile appeared on his face as he clapped his hands vigorously.

"The Thin Red Line" was the previous Golden Bear winner and was "Mr. Donkey's" biggest competitor. This time, however, it won Best Director, which puts it on a level playing field with "Mr. Donkey." Now, with one film winning Best Actress and the other Best Director, their chances of winning the Golden Bear are equal!

Now it wasn't just Wu Yuchen who was happy; other film crews aiming for the Golden Bear were also secretly delighted. For example, the directors of "Min Lang's Elegy" and "8mm" had already won awards for "Mr. Donkey" and "The Thin Red Line," so their chances of winning the Golden Bear had greatly increased!
"The winner of the Jury's Silver Bear Award is... 'Minlang's Elegy'!"

The director from Denmark was also very happy. Winning the Jury Prize this time was already quite good, and it completely met his expectations.

At this moment, Joel Schumacher, the director of "8mm", couldn't help but feel his heart racing. Several of his competitors had already won awards. Was the biggest prize finally going to them? It seemed like the Golden Bear was right in front of them!

Last year's Berlin Film Festival Best Actress winner, Brazilian national treasure Fernand Montenaco, walked onto the stage and said with a smile, "It is an honor to present this year's Golden Bear as a guest. It is an exciting moment, and I am also very nervous."

As Wu Yuchen saw this person as the award presenter, his heart raced, and he couldn't help but feel that this was a good omen. Because at last year's Berlin Film Festival, his starring role in "Central Station" had won both the Golden Bear and Best Actress awards!

At this moment, all eyes were on the award presenter, Fernandez. Without further ado, she opened the envelope, pulled out a slip of paper, glanced at it, and called out into the microphone:
"The Golden Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival goes to... Mr. Donkey!"

In an instant, Wu Yuchen stood up from his seat, raised his arms, and the crew of "Mr. Donkey" erupted in cheers.

Zhou Xun tugged at Sun Honglei's clothes and screamed, "Ah, Golden Bear! We are Golden Bear!"

Sun Honglei was also extremely excited: "Golden Bear! I won the Golden Bear!"

Zhang Guoli and Ding Jiali were no longer burdened by their age; they were shouting and hugging the young people around them, calling out to the Golden Bear!
Gong Li took the initiative to hug Wu Yuchen, revealing a bright smile: "Congratulations, Director Wu! Golden Bear!"

"Haha, congratulations to you too!" Wu Yuchen hugged Gong Li tightly, then opened his arms and hugged each of the actors who came with him. Afterwards, amidst thunderous applause, he walked onto the stage to accept the award.

Upon hearing the result, Terrence Malick, the director of "The Thin Red Line," let out a long sigh, but also marveled at how impressive today's young people are.

Meanwhile, Joel Schumacher, director of "8mm," was probably cursing inwardly. At least "The Thin Red Line" got him a Best Director award, but he didn't even get a hair's breadth this time! He's never coming to Berlin again!

On stage, Fernand handed the gleaming Golden Bear trophy to Wu Yuchen, smiling as he said, "Congratulations, Director Wu!"

"Thank you, Fernand, thank you for the good luck you brought me today!"

After hearing Wu Yuchen's words, Fernand reacted for a moment and laughed, then hugged him and said, "Your 'Mr. Donkey' is fantastic, you deserve it!"

Then, Wu Yuchen picked up the microphone and said with a smile:
"Dreamlike! Perfect! Forgive me for being completely blank right now; I can't think of any more words to describe how I feel!"

The audience below responded with good-natured laughter.

Wu Yuchen then let out a soft breath and continued:

"To be honest, a week ago, after seeing that 'Mr. Donkey' received the highest score in the festival's daily publication, I didn't even dare to think about the Golden Bear anymore. After all, the probability of winning over both the media and the jury at the same time is not very high. But the result really exceeded my expectations, it was such a pleasant surprise!"
Thank you to the jury for their recognition, thank you to the media and audience for their support, and thank you to Gong Li, Li Xuejian, Zhang Guoli, Ding Jiali, He Bing, Sun Honglei, Fu Dalong, Zhou Xun, and other actors for their wonderful performances. We also wish Ms. Li Xuejian, who performed despite being ill, a speedy recovery! Thank you to the entire crew! Thank you to Beijing Film Studio and Han Sanping for their help, and thank you to my alma mater!
I love you all!"

After saying that, Wu Yuchen kissed the Golden Bear trophy in his hand, which was captured by a flash and sent to the world!
(End of this chapter)