I'm so charming, there are always men who love me

Chapter 25

Fouquet's Restaurant, Champs Elysees, Paris, France

After the César Awards ceremony, the French film industry professionals moved to Fouquet's for a prestigious dinner.

In the splendor of the ballroom, the celebrities gathered.

In addition to the movie industry, there were also a number of invitees from other professions, not to mention designers and models from the fashion world, as well as the rich and famous from the 7th and 8th arrondissements, who are usually found in Paris.

As an old empire, France is still a place where money and power are the best catalysts for capitalism.

As an actress, Marguerite had no choice but to abuse her stomach for a while by putting two slices of tasteless vegetables in her mouth as she looked at the exquisite food on the table.

Dieting for the awards season had become a regular part of her life these past few months.

In this regard, it seems that male actors are more comfortable.

The public is less critical of their bodies, and with their baldness, they are able to open up avenues to play ordinary people, with more acting opportunities in front of them.

Margot, on the other hand, is almost self-mutilating in her demand for perfection, but perhaps because of the strict demands she has been subjected to since she was a child, she doesn't find it too difficult to say goodbye to her appetite for food.

Margo took a sip of her apple sparkling wine and heard an unfamiliar male voice in her ear, "Ajani, congratulations on your Cesar tonight."

"Director Zulaski," Margo set her glass down, "I hear you've been busy with nothing but literature lately, which is a real loss to the movie world."

Andrei Zulaski, one of today's most personally stylized and innovative, but also one of the most controversial masters of cinema.

His work has received mixed reviews for its extreme emotional intensity and postmodernist dramatic structures.

There are also many who believe that the artistry of some of Andrei Zulaski's films is at its peak.

However, Zulaski's filmmaking declined year by year as we entered the 1990s.

He found it difficult to raise funds to continue his film career, and spent more attention on his literary work and directing plays, with few new works being released.

"I've actually been working on a movie lately," said Zulaski, who was quite handsome in his younger days, and by now not so young, but still looking suave, "that contains strong elements of the Cthulhu system, and is even a little too gloomy and scary."

Margaret's voice sounded sincere, "But you must have the ability to make it a movie that will be regarded as a classic by its fans."

"Perhaps," Andrei Zulaski mused for a moment, "Would you be interested? Margaret?"

He tried to convince Adjani, "I've seen your Adele and I think you're my only choice, I've brought the script with me and we can find a quiet place to talk about this."

Seriously, Andrei Zulaski's movies have always been very risky, if they succeed, they can make a name for themselves in Europe, but in case they fail, all that controversy can simply drive you crazy.

Tickets to the big three in France are not easy to come by, especially with Marguerite taking on the Hollywood movie "The Matrix" to boost her commercial value.

This year's luck has not been extreme, with "The Story of Adele Hugo" seemingly not to the liking of this year's Cannes jury president.

In several European film festivals, which are practically a one-trick pony, it's a no-brainer to win a prize for a Hollywood movie.

And Andrei Zulaski's movie is certainly a good knockout.

Maybe she should read the script? She was always capricious anyway.

On the other side of the party, Brian Lord looked at Margaret and Director Andrei Zulaski, who were talking to each other not far away, and frowned, "That doesn't bode well."

------------------------------------------

Late at night, in his suite at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, Brian Lord had just finished reading the script.

The movie, titled Obsession, begins when his wife, Anna, cheats on him and her husband, Marky Mark, hires a private investigator to follow her.

Sure enough, the private investigator discovers that Anna has a lover and lives in an old building that fronts the street.

But strangely enough, the people who followed Anna in to investigate, all failed to come out again, and the private detective actually saw a bizarre giant devil in that old building.

It turns out that Anna has been compelled by the devil, often seducing men home to feed the devil, anyone who sees the devil will be out of control, convulsions, panic, and then will be crazy Anna killed.

As more and more people die, the devil gradually turns into human form.

Surprisingly acquiescing when he learns the truth, Mark goes around cleaning up Anna's mess, blocking the police from investigating the case, and finally dies with Anna under random gunfire.

And the devil has grown into Mark's appearance, officially descended to earth.

All of the characters in this have a state of mind that cannot be put into words, so good and evil that it's almost as if they're possessed.

The male and female protagonists are portrayed in a way that is completely saber-rattling, full of torture of humanity, and capable of hammering your worldview to smithereens.

This movie challenges your perception of what is normal at every turn, but when you finish the script, it's even shocking in a way that you'll never walk away from.

Because of this movie script in front of him, Brian Lord looks a little agitated -

Margaret really needs a non-commercial movie right now, but Andre Zulaski's genre of films almost always qualifies as cult movies.

This one, Obsession, is even more bizarre, sword-fighting, stylistically unusual, extremely controversial, made on a small to medium budget, and not at all market-driven.

The script alone creates an extremely gloomy and panicky atmosphere, filled with heaviness and depression, and creepy.

But at the same time, Brian is confident that Ajani can contribute one of the most deranged and brilliant performances in the history of world cinema to this movie.

This bizarre cult movie will obviously be snubbed by the Oscars, but may cause all of Europe to enshrine her.

Not a horror movie that can be summarized in a nutshell, "Obsession" has an endless hysteria and violent insanity that shocks to the core.

Brian took a hard drag on his cigarette to calm the damn agitation, "Margot, this movie won't make you gamble your future or your reputation, but it is highly likely that it will make you nothing, and this shocking movie may even be banned from theaters in some countries."

The Oscars were not to be counted on, and the major European film festivals were again almost entirely at the mercy of those few jury members, and unpredictable.

Margaret's fingers landed on the script for Obsession, "I think I can interpret Anna's gradual psychological changes of madness, self-mutilation, and devotion to the devil."

"I certainly don't doubt this, but I'm a good agent," Brian stared at her, "If Andrei Zulaski hadn't approached you directly, this script would have been in the trash the next second it got to me."

The corner of Margaret's mouth quirked up, "What if I insisted on being in it?"

"As an agent, I can only offer you the opportunity to star," Brian Lord shrugged his shoulders, "Forcing you to act in or out of a movie violates California law as well as film union rules."

Margaret intertwined her hands and rested them on her chin, "Before we return to L.A. tomorrow at noon, we could get Andre Zulaski to sign a contract, don't you think?"

Brian raised his glass to her, "Of course, I'll only serve your wishes and interests, happy working together, Kaiser Film Queen."

The whiskey glass in the dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty's hand clashed with his.

There was a soft thud, and the deep golden liquor shook like a citrine color.

What Margaret and Brian, who couldn't predict the future, didn't know was that-

This time next year, the whole of Europe looks like teenagers in love, handing out several best actress honors all in the same year, and they're crazy about Ajani.

By the time Margaret arrived at LAX again, news of her César win had spread to every corner of the United States of America.

"Ajani Nabs Cesar Award Winner, Dubbed Europe's Most Beautiful Woman." --Variety

"Beauty and acting skills go hand in hand as Ajani becomes the new face of French cinema." --The Hollywood Reporter

"Marguerite Adjani, the most iconic French actress of the late 20th century." --Chicago Sun

"With a stage reading of 'The Satanic Verses' at the César Awards, Adjani was hailed as a symbol of the French spirit." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Beautiful and cool, Margaret Ajani is riding high on good clothes?" --Fashion

Margot's first Cesar win was notable enough.

The video of her reading from The Satanic Verses on the César stage, which went viral, was an almost instantaneous hit with millions of teenagers across the U.S. for its elegance, grace and pride.

Reciting The Satanic Verses at an awards ceremony in solidarity with innocent civilians injured in a terrorist attack? That's a little too cool.

Many young people who were once uninterested in literary films regretted not going into the theater to see "The Story of Adele Hugo" when it was released.

The good thing is that this movie, which was shortlisted for the Oscars, will be released again in a month's time.

In any case, they must go to the movie theater to enjoy this beautiful and cool French beauty.

And those who have already enjoyed Ajani's outstanding performances in movies can only marvel at the fact that when her acting talent is combined with her charisma, it simply overshadows everything else.

Inside the editorial room of the Daily Planet in Metropolis, on the East Coast of the United States, Clark Kent was clicking on one of the most discussed clips of the awards show on the Internet and watching it carefully.

Not that he was a crazed fan of the Hollywood starlet, but because the editor-in-chief had informed him ten minutes earlier that -

"Clark, you need to make a trip to Los Angeles to interview the Rose de France who is driving America crazy."