Chapter 353

With the official opening of the Cannes Film Festival on May 12, the seaside town became even livelier. Reporters were running back and forth at various press conferences with cameras, tirelessly collecting news, gossip, and anecdotes that could attract people's attention. Male and female stars from all over the world were generous enough to let them film, ask questions, and promote themselves or their movies.

Compared to the United States, Adriaan was less famous in Europe. After all, of the three films, except for The Smoking Pipe, the other two were set in the United States. Ordinary people in Europe preferred American movies with a strong commercial flavor, while the critics, who prided themselves on art, thought that the two films were not artistic enough.

However, it was only a small part of the audience. Those who liked the cult style, the suspense, and the strange ideas were not in the minority. The thought that "Memory Fragments" and "The Shawshank Redemption" showed, or rather, in the eyes of the critics, was also praiseworthy. Therefore, on May 16th, when Pulp Fiction premiered at the Kappa Theater on Marsden Avenue, although most of the American reporters were there, there were also many European reporters.

"According to the current plot introduction, Mr. Adrian, your new movie is still in the cult genre, and it seems to be narrated in three parts. So this time, did you put more effort into the editing like you did in 'Fragmented Memory'?" a French reporter asked loudly with a microphone outside the railing, amidst the snapping sounds of cameras.

However, his English was terrible. If he had spoken in French, Adriaan would have been able to understand him. Unfortunately, in this noisy situation, Adriaan could not understand what the reporter was saying at all.

"Can you repeat it?" Adriaan asked in French.

The reporter immediately realized his problem, so he immediately changed to French and asked the same question again. However, Adriaan's answer made him not know whether to laugh or cry. "I'm sorry, I can't answer that. The movie is about to be broadcast. You should observe it with your own eyes! Of course, I promise, this is a very interesting movie. "

It was not easy for him to seize the opportunity to ask his question, and he had to repeat it several times to get the other party to understand. He did not expect to get such an answer. He wanted to continue to ask, but the American reporter next to him had already taken the opportunity. "Mr. Adriaan, is the reason why you chose the Cult genre for your fifth movie because the fourth one was not satisfactory?"

The reporters from other countries suddenly pricked up their ears. This news had already spread to Europe. Unfortunately, Adriaan did not answer directly. He just smiled and said, "I'm sorry, today is the premiere of Pulp Fiction, so I can't answer questions unrelated to this movie."

"Then can I take it that you agree?" the American reporter asked reluctantly.

Adrian didn't answer. He looked around and motioned for others to ask questions. An Italian reporter immediately said, "Mr. Adrian, can you tell us why Miss Monica Bellucci was chosen as the female lead of this movie?"

"Because she is the most suitable." Adriaan said as he held Monica, who had been by his side. She was wearing a red low-cut evening dress today, which showed off her graceful figure and killed a lot of film.

"As the mistress of a mafia boss, the female lead needs to give people a sexy and unruly feeling. I have selected a lot of actresses for this role, but I have never found the most suitable one until Monica participated in the audition." Adriaan said and looked at Monica with admiration. "Although she doesn't have much experience, I knew that she was the role I was looking for after a little performance, so I chose Monica without hesitation."

Monica did not say anything. She just looked at the reporters with a faint smile. Although her aura was not as strong as it would be a few years later, it still made many people's eyes light up — especially the Italian reporters.

"It turns out that my decision was very correct. Monica's performance in the movie is almost perfect. She is like my muse, giving me a lot of inspiration in the middle of filming." Adriaan continued. Some of the reporters around him were stunned for two or three seconds, and then their expressions became ambiguous.

Generally speaking, when a director called the female lead in his movie his muse, it could only mean one thing. Of course, no one would be stupid enough to poke through that layer of paper. Tabloids could write whatever they wanted because everyone knew that 90% of their words were untrustworthy, but those famous newspapers must abide by such unspoken rules unless there was concrete evidence. But this was also a hint that there was news to be dug up between them.

Looking at the entrance of the theater not far away, Adriaan immediately took Monica's arm and walked inside. The reporters who wanted to continue to ask could only give up, and then picked up their cameras to take pictures of their background.

"Are you serious, Eide?" After entering the theater's front hall, Monica suddenly asked in a low voice.

"Of course." Adriaan answered without thinking, "When we were filming Pulp Fiction, you were indeed my muse. Otherwise, I wouldn't have spent so much time and effort on you."

"Not anymore?" A complicated look flashed across Monica's face.

"To be honest, I can't be sure." Adriaan stopped and looked at her. His serious expression made him look very sincere. "But my infatuation with you is not fake, Monica."

Monica was silent for a few seconds, and then she said provocatively, "You said in front of the reporters that I was your muse. Aren't you afraid that your little girlfriend will be jealous?"

"It is what it is. You were indeed my muse during filming. Why can't I admit that?" Adriaan shrugged, looking quite free and easy.

Monica's expression became more complicated. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she just sighed. Adrian smiled faintly and pinched her perky buttocks. Then, he held her hand and continued to walk inside.

"Hey, Eide. Oh, and Monica." John Travolta, who had already arrived at the theater, greeted them with a smile. Samuel Jackson, Denis, and Laffern were also with him. In addition, Bruce Willis and his wife, Demi Moore, were also with him.

"You guys ran so fast. You left all the reporters to me and Monica," Adriaan walked up to them and said mockingly.

"As a director and producer, you should bear more responsibility than us, right? Besides, you guys … "Taravolta, who was joking, suddenly realized something. He smiled and spread his hands, not continuing.

Basically, everyone knew what happened between Adriaan and Monica, and they more or less knew that he had a girlfriend, but no one said anything about it. Denis, who knew the most, kept his mouth shut. They were all men, and they understood the situation very well. Even Willis and Taravolta, who were already married.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Adriaan chatted with the Willis couple for a while, and everyone sat down to wait for the movie to be shown.

"How's the situation?" Adriaan asked Laffern, who was sitting on his right, in a low voice.

"Not very good. You know, we've wasted at least a few years. Although you started to reorganize your network after you acquired the company, once this thing is abandoned, it's sometimes harder to pick it up than to build a new one. More importantly, this is Europe, "Laffern said softly, but he looked very calm.

"It's okay, we still have time." Adriaan also noticed this. "Try your best. As long as you do your best, it doesn't matter if you fail."

"I will." Laffern nodded.

The two naturally discussed the Palme d 'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Although the original version of "Pulp Fiction" had won the Palme d' Or, and Adriaan was confident that his version would not be worse than the original, he wasn't 100% sure if it would win the Palme d 'Or.

It was said a long time ago that these film festivals, in essence, were about sharing the cake. However, the Oscars were still based on mainstream values, and the closer the film was to the mainstream values, the easier it would be to get attention. European film festivals, on the other hand, only focused on art. Therefore, compared to the Oscars, the rules were more chaotic, and whether or not one could get a share of the cake depended on the public relations.

Because of this, when Adriaan acquired the film company, he chose Bosworth Pictures, which had a lot of history. Subsequently, it was proven that his choice was not wrong. Laffern and his agent, Roger, successfully got him an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

No matter how the cake was divided, the quality of the film was still a very high proportion. Adriaan believed that "Pulp Fiction" would have no problem with that. So, now it was up to Laffern to win the Palme d 'Or for "Pulp Fiction" like the two bosses of Miramax. Of course, it was okay if he couldn't. Although the Palme d 'Or was a very high international honor, its influence in America was far less than the Oscars. So, it would be good if he could get it, but it didn't matter if he couldn't.

"So, how's the publicity for 'Know a Woman By Scent' going?" Adriaan asked another question.

"It's currently within my control, but I think we can slow it down for now. As' Pulp Fiction 'is screened in Cannes, it will definitely receive a lot of attention," Laffern said as he recalled.

"I'm afraid not." Adriaan thought for a while and shook his head. "You know, the first point that they grasped was that the fourth film was different from the previous three. Now that the fifth film is still a cult film, they will definitely compare it with the fourth film, which has not been revealed much so far. They will then declare that the fourth film is a failure. If 'Pulp Fiction' is a big hit, the situation may be even more serious. In this case, it will be very difficult to deal with it coldly. So, we need someone to guide it properly. Just like what we decided to do in the beginning, we need to use this matter to whet the public's appetite. We need to make them curious and prevent them from losing confidence. "