After the premiere ended, everyone returned to their own homes.
Eva Green was in high spirits. The reason? Apart from the likelihood of success for the new work directed by Lyman, which brought her joy, there was also the interview she had just gone through.
It was the first media event she had attended as an actress that hadn't ignored her.
In the past, she had always sat in the back, watching her co-stars stumble through or fluently answer questions, yet no one ever noticed her.
But this time, many reporters attempted to ask her about her feelings while performing in the play.
This meant that the role she played had gained recognition from others. For an actress, how could one not be happy about that?
During the interview, the impression that stuck with her the most was a girl with deep brown hair who had come all the way from Paris to attend the premiere. She said her portrayal of the wife's character felt very genuine, which touched her heart.
...
"I control my destiny, but do I? "Miscreant" presents a novel narrative approach in an intense gang-themed film."
"After watching, it lingers. I think the most outstanding film at this year's Cannes Film Festival is "Miscreant"."
"The fateful paths of the characters, everyone is on the chessboard, but who can be the one moving the pieces? Please watch the film "Miscreant"."
"Another excellent director emerges in the French film industry. "Miscreant" premiere at Cannes." - Le Parisien.
"Newcomer shines at the Cannes Film Festival. The scene was explosive." - Cannes Evening News.
""Miscreant", a remarkable film where you can't predict the plot until the very end." - XXX.
...
The next day, major newspapers were indeed full of praise for yesterday's premiere of "Miscreant". While EuropaCorp had a hand in it, the quality of the film itself could unquestionably withstand scrutiny.
And this kind of glowing praise was certainly extraordinary in terms of promotional effects for the film.
In theory, during the Cannes Film Festival, the screening schedule for "Miscreant" was predetermined. After all, with so many films being exhibited, there were only so many screening rooms available, and they had to rotate through.
This was also a manifestation of the organizing committee's intention to maintain fairness and impartiality.
So, aside from the premiere on the first day, there were only two showings each day for the following week.
But rules were fixed, people were not.
If the audience greatly appreciated a certain film and demanded additional screenings, the organizers wouldn't just ignore the requests.
...
Inside the screening room.
When Kim Jae-shik saw the long line, he deeply regretted his decision.
He wished he hadn't indulged in sleep and had come to queue up earlier.
But there was no way around it. Last night, a friend called to recommend this film, praising its brilliance, which also piqued his curiosity.
So, even though the line was long, his desire to watch the film remained high.
He joined the line, with a white guy in front of him.
At this moment, that person was excitedly on the phone.
Jae-shik, although Korean, was studying in France and could understand the French the person was using to communicate.
The gist of it was: "Hey, buddy, there's a great movie, you should come and see it. I'm in line now, hurry up."
After putting down his phone, the person also noticed Jae-shik standing behind him and curiously asked, "Hey, friend, have you seen this movie?"
"Not yet."
"Do you know the director of "Miscreant"?"
"I don't."
Jae-shik felt a bit puzzled. Why did watching a movie these days require so much background information?
"Well, I do. He's a French director from around here, very talented. I recommend you watch a few other films he directed; they're all excellent." The white guy spoke enthusiastically and hospitably.
People, for the most part, tend to introduce figures from their hometowns to others.
As they chatted, more than ten minutes flew by, but the line in front showed no signs of shortening.
"Do you think we'll be able to watch this movie today?" Jae-shik asked somewhat frustrated.
"No worries. With so many people in line, if the screening is popular, they'll add more showings." The white guy was quite certain. He often attended the Cannes Film Festival and had some understanding of the screening rules.
As expected, a while later, a few staff members holding microphones began shouting, "Exhibition hall number 4 is also available. "Miscreant" is showing there too. You can go over and join the queue."
The reminder alternated between English and French.
In an instant, the previously dense and tightly packed queue dispersed and everyone hurried over to the adjacent hall.
With additional screenings, it naturally meant a decrease in the number of screenings for other films.
After all, the schedule was set, and with each addition, there had to be a subtraction, someone had to make some sacrifices.
Unfortunately, this time the sacrifice was an Italian director named Pupi Avati.
Feeling somewhat down, he sought out a few compatriots to share his grievances.
When these fellow countrymen learned that "Miscreant" had taken over screening slots for other films, their expressions were a bit mixed.
Damn, wasn't it just said that the commercial aspects of Cannes were becoming more prominent? Wasn't this situation proving that?
These few had attended the premiere of "Miscreant" and understood the kind of film it was.
But knowing didn't change the situation. Aside from offering comfort, what more could they say?
After a long wait, in the evening, Pupi Avati's film "Incantanto" was finally scheduled by the organizing committee in a medium-sized screening room on the left side of the Film Palace.
As the screening was about to start, a few Italian directors who initially wanted to prove their films' value and have a confrontation with the organizing committee, grew dispirited. They even felt a great sense of humiliation.
Being bumped from the screening schedule was one thing, and not getting the highest-level screening room was also tolerable, but why were there so few audience members present?
What was this? It was a desecration of art.
Look at my carefully selected theme, a story about a tutor falling in love with a prestigious, beautiful, and visually impaired girl.
Isn't that exciting? Very much so.
The steamy scenes were especially thrilling.
Wasn't this what Cannes Film Festival loved the most? I catered so much to that, and now you're giving me this?
A group of Italian directors felt extremely frustrated.
Even more frustrating was that after the film ended, Pupi Avati turned around and found that the screening room, which had only been half full to begin with, now had very few audience members left.
There were only a few scattered discussions, and none of them were about the film.
Could it get any worse than this?
Indeed, even the routine interviews by media reporters seemed rushed and half-hearted, showing a hint of indifference.
The somewhat positive aspect was that at least some applause encouraged the audience a bit.
As the group exited the exhibition hall, they suddenly noticed another screening room nearby with people queuing up.
"Wow, the third boss is a real man. When he died in the end, I cried. How about you guys?"
"I like Ian. He's an undercover agent, forced to become the head of the gang. It's really tough on him."
"I really want to watch it again."
"This movie is really good."
The discussions floated over, making the group of Italian directors increasingly uncomfortable.
Pupi Avati's expression wasn't looking good either. With a cold snort, he left ahead of the rest.
On the other side, Lyman remained unaware of all this.
Or rather, aside from knowing that some media magazines praised his film and that the organizing committee had called him to inform about the additional screenings, he didn't have much else to go on.
For the whole day, he had stayed at home, not going out.
On the other hand, Luc Besson and George had been attending parties non-stop, "promoting" their film "Miscreant".
After all, they were vying for awards. How could they not interact well with the juries?
Compared to the pure PR operations of the Oscars, although the Cannes Film Festival had its ways due to its local advantages and the influence of EuropaCorp, there was still a need for management, publicity, and socializing activities.
Although "Miscreant" had received good word-of-mouth from the screenings so far, if awards were solely based on audience reviews, there wouldn't be so many formalities and selection criteria.
However, as the major newspapers praised, the momentum of "Miscreant" was certainly on the rise.
In recent years, the Cannes Film Festival had become increasingly open to so-called commercial elements, partly due to Hollywood's involvement. The awards weren't as exclusive as before.
Many artistic directors even claimed that the Berlin Film Festival could replace Cannes in terms of credibility for art films.
But Lyman felt that this change was quite good.
Wasn't the reason why France's film industry couldn't rise because they had confined themselves with these lofty ideals?
Learning to break free from these constraints, to change the atmosphere, wasn't that a good thing?
Movies were meant to be a pastime for the masses during leisure time.
Why make it seem so unattainable?
You could discuss profound principles if you wanted to, no one was stopping you, but whether people watched or not, they had their own choices.
The reason "Miscreant" became so popular was precisely because the pacing of the film was brisk, not dull, and the atmosphere and scenes were well controlled.
Audiences weren't stupid; they could distinguish between good and bad. Did they not have the ability to appreciate?
In his opinion, neither extreme sophistication nor commonality was desirable. The best was to achieve a balance between the two.
Of course, it was difficult to do so, but Lyman was willing to explore and attempt it.
From "3 Idiots" to "Miscreant" now, he was moving towards this direction.
The popularity of the film "Miscreant" at the Cannes Film Festival had another consequence: it provided excellent material for promotion.
After all, the film was still set for a public release. Pre-release promotions were ongoing in France and North America.
Positive news about a film that received such high praise from audiences undoubtedly had a positive effect on its promotion.
EuropaCorp and Paramount Pictures' PR departments weren't fools. Upon learning of this situation, they immediately prepared related press releases for a large-scale dissemination, enhancing "Miscreant" image among the audiences in both regions, aiming to attract fans to enter the theaters and support the film.
The same happened online. When a movie with good word-of-mouth started making rounds, it sparked discussions among many people.