I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 380 - 380 379. I cannot accept _1

Chapter 380: 379. I cannot accept _1 Chapter 380: 379. I cannot accept _1 Even now, when Mrs. Meritt thinks back to the content of the movie she just saw, she feels a shiver run down her spine.

What makes her even more desperate is that, as a film critic, as a movie connoisseur, she truly believes from the bottom of her heart that this movie is excellent, outstanding, and better than any other film she has seen so far this year that is in the running for selection.

Honestly speaking, many movies now feel like a routine to Mrs. Meritt. No matter how tragic the characters or how miserable their lives, her heart remains utterly unmoved, and she even wants to laugh while giving a bad review.

But this “Peaceful Days in Spring,” whether it is because the actors’ performances are too strong, the scenes too real, or the script’s interpretation too brilliant, actually managed to immerse Mrs. Meritt.

It is precisely because she was so immersed that she was hurt so deeply.

The first half of the entire movie is an adventurous journey with a literary air, but the strong and dark role reversal at the end, aligning with the tragic beginning, makes the worldview come alive.

Whether they are the protagonist, supporting characters, those with names, or those without, they collectively presented to Mrs. Meritt the struggle for survival of all people in this world.

If such a world truly existed, then its very existence would embody despair in capital letters.

Some art films portray love, some attempt to showcase humanity, others focus on the ignorant, uninformed culture.

And this movie, this “Peaceful Days in Spring,” its theme is despair.

No matter how beautiful the wish, how powerful the ability, or what kind of resistance one tries to put up, all efforts are merely ripples before destruction.

Mrs. Meritt initially thought this was nihilism, but after some careful thought, why would Lu Ban go through so much trouble to depict those beautiful things, those beautiful young girls, those beautiful moments, if only to make the audience’s hearts rupture at the moment they are shattered?

Then, she had an epiphany.

Although Amber died tragically in the end, and the strong hope turned into despair, it is precisely because of the previous beauty that this despair becomes justified.

Conversely, isn’t this a story about humanity’s relentless pursuit of beauty in the face of inevitable despair, who, even on the verge of the cruelest ending, still don’t give up the chase for hope?

Death is not the opposite of life, but rather endures as part of it,

Despair and hope are not mutually exclusive; without seeing despair, how can one appreciate the beauty of hope.

This movie, in Mrs. Meritt’s view, has transcended what many directors try to show about the goodness, evil, ugliness, or beauty of humanity. Instead, it focuses on a higher direction, concerning civilization, humanity, survival, and destruction.

This is a perfect art film!

By Mrs. Meritt’s standards, if she is to judge without any personal bias, then this year’s Palme d’Or would undoubtedly go to “Peaceful Days in Spring.”

This means she would need to remain silent about this movie for a long time, not revealing any details to other audiences until the film is publicly released.

To Mrs. Meritt, this is simply an excellent irony.

Just like the protagonist, she joyfully finished watching the first half of the movie, only to be struck by lightning in the second half and not be able to openly curse the director.

And now, she has to act like those shrine maidens who sent Amber to her death, becoming an accomplice to the movie, letting it harm more people!

Although one is set in a fantasy world and the other in reality, their circumstances strangely overlap.

“No, I can’t accept it… I can’t accept it…”

Mrs. Meritt looks somewhat haggard.

The pollution of the mind rendered her consciousness blurred, and the clarity that came with calm thinking only plunged her into further desperation.

Although Mrs. Meritt could have cared less and gone straight to the internet or newspapers to harshly judge Lu Ban and criticize “Peaceful Days in Spring,” causing him to fall from grace and prematurely reveal the carefully designed ending—after all, it was just about losing a job—with a bellyful of anger, she could have done it with just a wave of her hand.

But what’s truly despairing is that Mrs. Meritt still retains a shred of sanity.

She clearly knew that this film might actually secure a place for her name in the annals of film history. It was a work of art, and the crazed thoughts that had just crossed her mind were no different from spraying a giant F**K on a Van Gogh or Cézanne painting.

It was precisely because she still possessed that sliver of sanity that Mrs. Meritt understood she could not destroy this masterpiece.

She even needed to help Lu Ban, to carefully disguise this movie as a tender love road film, deceiving all the viewers, letting them enter the theater with the highest of expectations, and then subjecting them to the sharpest of knives.

The artistically committed Mrs. Meritt never would have thought that one day her pursuit of art would lead her into a dead end.

“What else can I do?”

Mrs. Meritt fell silent for a long time. She opened the window, and the uniquely damp air of the French countryside flowed into her lungs. At this moment, the forty-three-year-old film critic had lost all her objectives.

“No matter what I do, I can’t make the director change the ending, nor can I bring back to life the person who died in the story. What else can I do?”

She gazed blankly at the white fog drifting through the woods, shimmering in the moonlight.

In her despair, Mrs. Meritt sensed a calling.

The call came from high above, from the starry sky; it came from the depths of the ocean, from the abysses of the sea floor; it came from the heart of the desert, from an unknown royal tomb.

She stood up.

Barefoot, she stepped onto the windowsill.

The incessant calling calmed Mrs. Meritt’s thoughts, and she saw clearly where she was.

From the moment she pressed play, it was as if she had stepped onto a journey’s amber, and there was only one possible conclusion.

She couldn’t escape it anymore.

Moving forward, Mrs. Meritt wanted to step into that calling.

Just then, her dog suddenly burst into the projection room, barking twice and bringing Mrs. Meritt back to her senses.

“Ouch!”

As she turned to look at her dog, she slipped, and her whole body fell from the windowsill.

“Woof woof woof!”

The dog’s barking echoed in the damp night air. The dog came to the windowsill and glanced down.

Mrs. Meritt had fallen into the bushes, covered in scrapes. Coming to her senses, she screamed, as if she had broken a bone.

While trying to stand up and call for help, Mrs. Meritt still had scenes from the movie echoing in her head.

She was acutely aware that the movie would be related to her dreams for a considerable time to come.

She also understood the intention behind her colleagues sending her those emails.

As for handling the movie, the best way was to recommend it to anyone she encountered!