CHAPTER 731: CHAPTER 503: PREMIERE MOMENT (PART 2)

Even when she came to the film set, adopting an inspecting demeanor, there was no sense of stage performance.

This wasn’t to say that she adopted a very lifelike acting method; when it was time for her to be stern, she was extremely so—exploding in anger, barking orders, and exuding an air of bad temper and imperiousness. The visible stress and short fuse, especially when filming was about to be scrapped or couldn’t proceed, made her seem engulfed by dark clouds, her entire being as if ensnared by malevolent spirits.

Yao Yuanfeng loved the part where she, with great effort, restrained her own temper while trying to persuade You Jiang and Zeng Lili to stay and continue filming.

The fire was already at the pit of her stomach, yet upon encountering others, she still had to don a smile and implore them to stay.

Yao Yuanfeng had his share of such experiences and could empathize deeply. He guessed that perhaps others in the industry could empathize even more.

The film was both realistic and intense, possessing a raw and wild vibe.

Yao Yuanfeng was particularly fond of it; the script, every line vibrated with talent.

And the actors delivered these lines with fluctuating tones like a string of fireworks.

Simply superb.

To be fair, before seeing this film—even though it had been shortlisted for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival—Yao Yuanfeng felt that luck played a huge part.

He believed that if it weren’t for Shi Luoqi’s maneuvering behind the scenes, this film couldn’t possibly have made it into the main competition so smoothly.

Yet after seeing the film, Yao Yuanfeng felt that if such a film couldn’t make it into the main competition, what kind could?

"Behind the Scenes" was brimming with authorial presence. Its drama wasn’t commercial but was that of playwriting and character, where the story and personas’ contradictions ignited, not providing sensual stimulation but a more absurd sensation.

The contradictions kept shifting, the main thread being a massive enigma: could the film within this film continue to be shot?

Toward the end, Zhou Yun’s seven-minute long emotional outburst monologue demonstrated her impeccable emotional control, occupying every pore of the big screen.

She glared at the big screen, suppressing her rage, but it was becoming harder to contain until she finally stood up in anger.

"Shoot it if you like, forget it if not, to hell with all of you!" She erupted, revealing her true colors flaunted at the start of the film, veins throbbing, eyes bulging, her hysterical rage no longer restrained.

Anger, like a volcano erupting.

Yao Yuanfeng was once again shaken.

Genius.

He could only describe her as such.

At the ending of the film, she stood by her room’s window, her eyes coldly watching as You Jiang and Zeng Lili, one after another with their teams, left.

They looked up at her from downstairs.

She looked down at them.

In the nearly static three seconds, she spat a mouthful of saliva out, then with a whoosh, she closed the window.

The film, ended.

...

This was also Zhou Yun’s first time seeing the completed "Behind the Scenes".

She was astonished.

Because according to the script originally shot, the story was supposed to end with the director she played reconciling with the actors, pulling in funds, and continuing the film production, achieving a happy ending.

Who would have known, Xue Qin actually snipped off all those parts.

And the ending segment, in the original script, was supposed to be them leaving after her spitting, she would then chase after them begging them not to leave the next second.

Xue Qin unexpectedly extracted this part alone to use as the ending.

The theater lights came on.

Zhou Yun’s first reaction was exchanging looks of surprise with You Jiang, Zeng Lili, and Wang Jing.

The final version presented was significantly different from the content they filmed. Xue Qin, through editing, had entirely crafted a different direction.

But Zhou Yun also had to admit, this edited version was brilliant.

The final ending held a deflating kind of irony.

Applause started to sound, initially scattered, then thundering like a storm. The whole theater was inundated with applause, forming an ocean of claps, as everyone’s gaze converged onto the film’s creators seated at the center of the front row.

Whether a film is liked by the audience or not? From the moment a film ends, the state the audience demonstrates is telling enough.

The astonishment Zhou Yun and the other main actors felt at the narrative difference between the filmed content and the final product, that moment after watching the film, was swiftly overshadowed by the passionate response of the surrounding people.