Chapter 16: The Venice Film Festival
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“It’s time to say goodbye!” A bearded man pointed a knife at the man who slashed him, then heard a click coming from behind him. He turned around as he was shocked, but the black muzzle was already aimed at him.
Bam, bam, bam! Explosive sounds were heard as long sparks sprayed out from the machine gun, and a downpour of bullets filled the room. A lady dressed in a Bohemian-styled dress formed a strong contrast with the black machine gun. Although her expression could not be clearly seen due to the lighting, her furrowed brows and pouted lips left a wonderful impression. Especially when the screen slowly zoomed into her, her shooting stance was simply thrilling.
‘I never thought that I’d look so cool!” Kathrin widened her eyes at the screen. “This is unbelievable, I didn’t feel like that when this scene was shot!”
“This is the charm of a film, my love.” Adrian pulled her into his arms.
“Oh, no!” Kathrin suddenly shrieked. On the screen, she had used up all the bullets, taken down quite a number of people, and was now standing blankly in place. She had passed out after being hit by the thieves’ boss.
“Why didn’t you let me kill them all!” She stated, chiding Adrian.
“Because you only asked now.” Adrian laughed out loud, then kissed her face.
“Where are the other scenes? Is this the only one?” Kathrin scoffed.
“I’m sorry, this is the main scene, because the other scenes happened in a flash. You must know that you played a lady who was unconscious because of weed, so she has a very weak presence.” Adrian shrugged.
“But… I remember that I had lines.” Kathrin frowned.
“It was just a few exclamations, and a ‘what’, so…” Adrian gestured with his hand that the scenes were cut.
“Oh, that’s disappointing.” Kathrin sighed, but she was clearly joking with him.
“Honestly, I’ve been thinking.” Adrian had a serious look on his face. “I should just cut this scene too since it wouldn’t affect the plot too much.”
“You can’t do that!” Kathrin immediately shouted, then punched Adrian with her fists.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Do you want to fight? Miss, you don’t have a machine gun with you at the moment.” Adrian laughed as he grabbed her hands.
Unwilling to be outdone, Kathrin counterattacked, but they both accidentally fell from their chairs. Nevertheless, they continued to wrestle on the ground, and she screamed while laughing from time to time. Eventually, they moved to the desk, then to the wall where they stopped as Adrian pressed her against it.
“I told you, you can’t get away,” Adrian said to her playfully.
Kathrin stared at him. Her chest undulated at that moment, and her face was so red that she was unusually attractive. Subsequently, Adrian kissed her sexy lips and pushed his tongue through her teeth easily. With that, she responded passionately by wrapping her arms around his neck and inched her body closer to his.
After sucking her lower lip again, Adrian suddenly stopped. The two of them rested their heads against each other without saying a word, so that only the sound of heavy breathing filled the room.
A moment later, Kathrin finally spoke, “I’m sorry, Eddy. I just… I just…”
“It’s alright, Kate. It’s alright,” Adrian responded gently. He then let her go after he calmed himself down. “I’ll tidy up, then send you home, alright?”
Kathrin wanted to say something, but she swallowed those words after a moment of hesitation.
Before long, they arrived on the street outside Kathrin’s house. Adrian stopped the car, then said to her, “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight…” Kathrin replied softly. She finally plucked up her courage after she opened the door. “Eddy, actually I…”
“It’s alright, Kate. I told you, it’s alright.” Adrian cut her off. He reached out to touch her face with a smile. “Your feelings are more important, do you understand?”
Kathrin was stunned. She threw herself into his arms, then kissed him. As a result, they spent a passionate time together again.
“I love you, Eddy.” Kathrin was blushing.
“Me too.” Adrian kissed her on her forehead. “Sweet dreams.”
When Kathrin left the car, Adrian called out to her, “Oh right, Kate. I’ve sent the film to the Venice Film Festival, would you join me in Venice? You’re still on a summer break anyway.”
“Of course!” Kathrin answered quickly.
“It’s set then.” Adrian nodded, then waved her goodbye.
As usual, he left only after she went inside. While it seemed like he failed on the verge of success, he knew that he had completely captured her.
“How rare it is to have a shy, adorable lady. Being in love feels great,” Adrian exclaimed.
It was as if he had two different personalities; he was totally immersed during dates but became as calm as an outsider as soon as his dates ended. Nevertheless, he enjoyed being like that.
‘The only tricky part is…’ Adrian rubbed his fingers as he recalled the incident in the studio. If he was right, Kathrin was likely… A virgin! This was very normal since there were many 17-year-old ladies who had not lost their virginity, let alone Kathrin, who was rather naive.
Honestly, it would be very satisfying for a man to have the virginity of a lady, but in terms of sex, a virgin and a charming matured lady were very different.
Adrian shook his head as he laughed. If he was seeking skills or physical pleasure, he could have just gone to East London’s Bont Street where he could be satisfied by a high-class call girl for 500 pounds an hour.
“That’s it, we’ll see when we’re in Venice.” He shrugged.
The Venice Film Festival was first founded in 1932. It was the ancestor of all film festivals in the world and was also one of the “Big Three” film festivals in Europe. Normally, it would take place in late August or early September and would last roughly 2 weeks.
“Film is a serious art service” was the aim of the Venice Film Festival. While different slogans were proposed every year, the judging criterion was very simple—artistic. That being said, Adrian felt that it was more suitable to put encouraging experimental films as the standard.
In his past life, back when he was at the film academy, he had been obsessed with artistic films in Europe and was so ambitious that he thought about producing one. Later, after further analyses, he eventually got rid of that thought and was even disgusted by it. Film reviews varied from one person to another, thus it was simply impossible for everyone to be on the same page. In fact, most artistic films were the result of people flattering each other since they were the ones with power and influence. To put it in a harsher way, Europe’s film market had long been fully occupied by Hollywood’s commercial films, and European films were only trying to prolong their feeble existence using the name of art.
Of course, this was only Adrian’s opinion, just like how different people had different views on the definition of an artistic film. Nevertheless, he favored the film experimenters at the Venice Film Festival. The festival often accepted films that were shot using new, original, and unique methods. Even if they had slight flaws, they were accepted as long as they were innovative. While a number of independent films produced by those who regarded themselves as auteurs of art were released, there were also films that were liked by many due to interesting plots.
This was one of the reasons why Adrian insisted on participating in the Venice Film Festival with ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.’ Since the film was considered an experimental film, it was a perfect work to be exhibited at the festival. It was worth noting that the “Big Three” film festivals in Europe had their own features, for example, the Berlin Film Festival paid more importance to ideology. If a film was about a reflection on World War II, it would very likely be highly-awarded as long as it was approved. On the other hand, the Cannes Film Festival was somewhere between the first two festivals as it was more fond of political and motivational works. Judging from ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ quality, though it would receive great reviews by participating in the Berlin Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival, it would not produce a better effect than if it was exhibited at the Venice Film Festival.
If one wanted to expand the influence of a film produced by a small company or an independent film, to find a good publishing company, or to make the cast and director famous, the only way was to join a film festival. Of course, Adrian believed that this was only temporary.
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