The Face Genius Actor

Episode 128

I couldn’t sleep well from the night before.

This was because the screening day of “I Am Not a Villain” was approaching.

“I Am Not a Villain” had already been released at the Saint-Étienne theater.

However, the screening of the film at the Cannes Film Festival held a completely different meaning.

The Cannes Film Festival was a place where one could see the world’s evaluation at a glance.

Since I thought there was little chance of winning an award, today’s film screening was even more important.

Being invited to the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival alone could be considered as exceeding expected results.

But still, if I were to be greedy, I wanted to receive good reviews from the audience at today’s screening.

This was the most realistic expectation that Director Choi Seo-young and I could have in the current situation.

As the day of the “I Am Not a Villain” screening dawned, I put on the outfit I had prepared in advance.

The second outfit was also a creation by Designer Lee Si-hoo.

It wouldn’t have been bad to choose an outfit from Jean-Drulot Meyère, with whom I had a personal friendship.

However, among the outfits Jean-Drulot Meyère had gifted, there was no suit.

There wasn’t a strict rule that one must wear a suit to the Cannes Film Festival, but I preferred this style.

I had also already agreed on styling for the Cannes Film Festival with Designer Lee Si-hoo’s team and received sponsorship.

‘Still, it feels a bit off not to wear Jean-Drulot Meyère’s outfit.’

This feeling was even stronger because Jean-Drulot Meyère had agreed to attend the screening of “I Am Not a Villain.”

Although I hadn’t asked him to attend the screening, from the perspective of a friend who had shown goodwill first, it could be disappointing.

Above all, I wanted to give Jean-Drulot Meyère a small gift somehow.

“Actor! Are you ready?”

Fortunately, when Song Jin-ah stepped back and said this,

Something flashed in my mind.

After pondering for a moment, I spoke.

“In my carrier, there should be a set of three pins gifted by Jean-Drulot Meyère.”

“Ah! I know what you’re talking about! The ones we styled for the lookbook shoot last time, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’d like to match them with this outfit. Do you think it would look good?”

“Oh! That’s not bad! Just a moment. I’ll bring them now.”

So I pinned the Louis Vuitton pins to the collar of my suit.

Just by adding the three pins, the suit gave off an overall casual impression.

I nodded as I checked my appearance in the full-length mirror.

The styling wasn’t bad.

“It looks great! Shall we fix the styling like this then?”

“Yes, let’s do that. Now, let’s move to the Grand Theater.”

Shortly after, we arrived at the Lumière Grand Theater.

It wasn’t like a regular cinema where you could just open glass doors and enter.

As befitting a film festival, we had to walk the red carpet to enter the Grand Theater.

“Si-joon! Si-joon!”

“Look this way just once, please!”

“Wave your hand, please!”

“Over here! Over here!”

“Just one word, please!”

The reporters’ enthusiasm was considerable.

Camera flashes went off incessantly.

But Director Choi Seo-young and I were already accustomed to this atmosphere.

This had been repeated as we attended various films in the competition section.

Of course, today felt even more intense as it was the day “I Am Not a Villain” was the main feature.

After taking all the photos, we opened the doors of the Grand Theater with nervous hearts.

At the same time, we could see the audience filling up the seats all the way to the second floor.

When watching other films in the competition section, such a scene felt natural.

But not now.

Seeing the audience applauding even before the film started made my heart swell.

Director Choi Seo-young seemed to feel the same, looking around with a dazed expression.

I gathered my wits first and spoke to Director Choi Seo-young.

“Director.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go.”

“Ah. Yes.”

So Director Choi Seo-young and I moved to our designated seats, waving enthusiastically to the audience.

During this process, I could spot some familiar faces.

First, Jean-Drulot Meyère was waving at us.

When I turned my head towards him to show my pleasure, Jean-Drulot Meyère pointed at the three pins and gave a thumbs up.

He seemed to have instantly understood why I had pinned them along my collar.

Next to him stood famous French actors Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche.

It seemed Jean-Drulot Meyère had kept his promise to bring celebrity friends.

Both were actors whose names were known to everyone in France.

The films they starred in were listed in the non-competition section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Besides them, directors and actors like Giovanni Trevisi and Anna Bressler, whose names were in the competition section, attended to watch the film.

The audience seemed glamorous enough to make my worries about not having enough celebrities seem foolish.

And among them, the most eye-catching person was naturally…

‘Junior Cashfl.’

It was Junior Cashfl, who was serving as the jury president of the Cannes Film Festival.

The fact that Junior Cashfl was watching “I Am Not a Villain” seemed to elevate the status of the screening.

‘I hope we can achieve a good result today…’

I sat in my designated seat with this wish.

And not long after, “I Am Not a Villain” officially began.

* * *

Throughout the film’s screening,

The Grand Theater was quiet, as if it had forgotten its initially bustling atmosphere.

“I Am Not a Villain” wasn’t the kind of movie where laughter erupted or tears flowed intermittently.

For this reason, it felt like the silence was prolonged.

But soon, as the film got closer and closer to revealing Yoon Se-rang’s identity, I could feel the atmosphere in the venue changing significantly.

The consecutive gasps from the audience were evidence of this.

It was natural, as one could predict Yoon Se-rang’s situation to some extent in the latter part of the film.

A keen viewer could have grasped the overall context from the middle part.

As the audience’s sympathy reached its peak,

The film finally reached its last scene.

Simultaneously, screams of shock burst from the mouths of the audience who had been sighing.

It wasn’t loud enough to disturb other viewers’ experience.

In fact, the screams couldn’t disturb other viewers.

Because everyone was screaming in unison.

And the screams peaked when Kang Tae-nam opened the window and swung down the pipe wrench.

Once, twice, three times, four times…

Each time Kang Tae-nam swung the pipe wrench, a painful thudding sound echoed.

Also, blood presumed to be Yoon Se-rang’s splattered on Kang Tae-nam’s face.

Then, the scene closely showing Kang Tae-nam wearing Myungsung High School uniform,

The scene that could be called the core of “I Am Not a Villain” captured the audience’s attention.

I felt this fact as I watched the film along with the audience.

‘This is the advantage of watching a movie with others in a theater…’

The ability to share emotions without talking or checking expressions.

That unified emotion shook the Lumière Grand Theater.

And at that moment, the screen turned black, the title “I Am Not a Villain” appeared, and a child’s voice was heard.

[Dad! I’m here!]

A low exclamation burst simultaneously from the mouths of the audience who had been watching the film with shocked eyes.

This meant that the message we wanted to convey through “I Am Not a Villain” had safely arrived.

I clenched my fist, feeling elation spreading throughout my body.

Director Choi Seo-young also seemed moved, covering her mouth with both hands.

As the ending credits started to roll,

People began to stand up one by one, applauding.

It was a standing ovation, a common sight at the Cannes Film Festival.

In fact, standing ovations were quite common at Cannes.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it had become almost like a set event.

Especially, there was no case where a film in the competition section didn’t receive a standing ovation.

The standing ovation also included praise for the Cannes Film Festival itself.

So there was no need to be moved by the fact of receiving a standing ovation.

But it was different if you felt that your heart had connected with the audience, like now.

The audience was giving us applause sincerely, not just as a formality.

I could tell this fact without anyone telling me.

‘Surely, that last low exclamation didn’t just come out for no reason…’

That’s why I could feel emotions welling up.

Director Choi Seo-young still wore an expression of disbelief at the current moment.

So Director Choi Seo-young and I slowly expressed our gratitude as we walked among the audience.

Many people enjoyed capturing our images with cameras.

“It was the best!”

“It was a really great work! Seo-young!”

“Si-joon! Your acting was perfect!”

“It’s the best film of this festival!”

“Thank you for showing us such an excellent work!”

Words of encouragement poured out through whistles and cheers.

And each word felt like it was being etched into my heart.

As we walked among the audience and finally reached Jean-Drulot Meyère’s seat,

Jean-Drulot Meyère hugged me tightly and said,

“Don’t be surprised, Si-joon. The standing ovation has been going on for 7 minutes now. Didn’t I tell you? ‘I Am Not a Villain’ would definitely do well?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised at Jean-Drulot Meyère’s words.

Typically, standing ovations at Cannes didn’t last more than 5 minutes.

Even reaching 5 minutes was considered a long applause.

But 7 minutes?

I didn’t think our film would receive such good reviews from so many audience members.

What’s even more surprising was that there were no signs of the applause dying down yet.

‘Many audience members still want us to come over and greet them.’

This meant that the standing ovation would continue for quite some time.

Once again, I realized that it wasn’t a mistake that the message of “I Am Not a Villain” had been conveyed to the audience.

‘This is enough now. I really don’t want anything more from Cannes.’

Even after talking with Jean-Drulot Meyère, the standing ovation continued for another 4 minutes, and during this time, I had this thought.

And this was sincere.

The Cannes Film Festival had given me joy beyond my imagination.

It was natural, as the film I participated in as an actor, screenwriter, and production company had conveyed more emotion than expected.

In terms of achievement, it would be hard for anything better to happen than this.

But the Cannes Film Festival still had the awards ceremony left, and

During the standing ovation, I had completely forgotten this fact.