Chapter 284 Covered movie, dead director
October 4th, night.
James Shams, who was already balding, was wearing a khaki suit, standing at the entrance of the restaurant, looking up at the busy street, trying to distinguish all the parked vehicles, trying to see the faces of every customer entering the venue as clearly as possible , while beside him, Ang Lee in a white shirt stared blankly at the distant statue.
Holding ears of wheat, the Goddess of Victory, raising her arms and pointing forward, seems to be a **** revered by everyone, but in AngLee's eyes, William Sherman, who is riding a horse with his head held high, is the only one in the world.
"What are you looking at?" James Shams, who looked around, finally found something unusual.
Following Ang Lee's line of sight, when he saw the works of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the greatest sculptor in America in the 19th century, he felt helpless, "It's all over, Don't even think about it!"
The endless words surprised the doorman who had been watching them for a long time, but when they got into AngLee's ears, they turned into a slightly agreeable smile, "Okay, okay, okay, I don't want it, I don't want it anymore ..."
Although he nodded in response, he withdrew his gaze from staring at the statue, and followed his companions to look around for someone, but that absent-minded appearance was still easily captured by James Shams.
Looking at the guy who mechanically shook his head depending on the direction of the voice, and his slack eyes glanced out of thin air as if he had completed a task, James Shams, who was wearing glasses, rolled his eyes and said, "If you are not in good condition, then Just go back first?"
“I translated the script, and I can clarify the concept of the movie to them.”
Hearing this, Ang Lee, who was still separated from God, shook his head repeatedly as if struck by lightning, "No, I'm fine."
"Are you all right?" James Shams looked skeptical.
"Of course." AngLee, who wanted to stay, nodded vigorously, not only that, but also forced a smile, and said stiffly: "The main reason is that waiting is too boring. After they come, it will be fine."
"Don't worry, I won't destroy my project."
When it was all said and done, James Shams didn't force it any more, but when he was thinking about what he should do if Ang Lee made a mistake, he followed Roland and Kate's instructions. Che, the status of my old friend has really changed.
"Oh~ Kate~ we meet again~" AngLee, who was still there before cosplaying Wangfushi, came alive.
Smiling, she took the initiative to greet her, "Compared to before, your figure is better!"
"Really? Director, your vision is still so good!" Kate smiled, shook hands with AngLee, and at the same time glanced at the man beside her, complaining: "No way, I don't care, but someone cares !"
Women are for those who please themselves.
AngLee, who understood the meaning, smiled even more happily, and stretched out his hand to Roland, saying: "When I was working with Kate, I was wondering who would pick this beautiful English rose. You know, when I was filming , she even posted your poster in the room where she lived temporarily. This kind of intensity and straightforwardness cannot be determined by others. The guy who pursues her will definitely pass you first, but I didn't expect... In the end, you will calm down The barbs on her body, from this point of view, she has got her wish?"
'uh-huh? ’ James Shams cast a vague glance at his old friend.
That kind of flattery made him deeply moved.
"No, for us, this is all wish come true..." Roland didn't care, after all what AngLee said was true, but he still added, "I always like the most beautiful one."
"And when I saw her file, I knew I had found it."
"Oh~" AngLee laughed and hugged Roland.
"Haha~" James Shams also offered his hand.
Kate showed her crescent-like eyes happily, and took Roland's arm.
And Roland himself...
He has caught the probing eyes of the people around him.
"Let's go in." He suggested, not wanting to be exposed.
"Okay." The two people in charge of treating guests nodded repeatedly, led the way, and led them into the private room to sit down.
After ordering, they chatted briefly, and Roland, who didn't want to waste time, motioned for the two to get straight to the point.
"This is the project I told you about on the phone."
Ang Lee took out a notebook from his handbag and pushed it in front of the two.
On the white cover, there is written in obscure English—"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
After seeing this title, Kate frowned instinctively. She couldn't guess the general content of the script based on the literal meaning, but for Roland, this stuff was too familiar.
Isn't it "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"?
In fact, after receiving a call from Ang Lee and learning that the other party had a Chinese Kungfu book for him to read, Roland had already guessed this project, because Ang Lee has only made this martial arts movie in his life!
It seemed to see Kate’s doubts, but it was more like an inspiration to sell herself, so when Kate curiously took the book and opened it, AngLee, who was sitting opposite Roland, also explained, “This is an oriental book. The martial arts story is similar to martial arts movies like "Fist of Fury", but the time in the story has to be pushed forward."
Hearing this, Kate's hands paused.
Because she doesn't know much about the history of the East, she doesn't know if she can understand it.
While she was hesitating, AngLee's next words made her face look surprised.
"However, you don't have to be embarrassed because this is an oriental story. If you have to analyze it, this is actually the oriental martial arts version of "Sense and Sensibility". The other heroine was based on Emma Thompson's Elinor..."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Kate opened her eyes wide, "Isn't this a sheath?"
Yes, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is simply a cover-up movie.
Back then, when Ang Lee went back to his hometown to film "Eating and Drinking Men and Women", he read the novel "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with a dream of martial arts. Because his father's trilogy was about to end, he wanted to make a martial arts film without a project plan.
So, he asked his boss Xu Ligong to help negotiate copyright.
But no one expected that during the preparation of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Sony suddenly approached him and asked him to shoot "Sense and Sensibility".
Although Ang Lee has never read Jane Austen's novels, no one wants to miss this rare opportunity, so he took over "Sense and Sensibility" and postponed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
When communicating with Emma Thompson, the screenwriter of "Sense and Sensibility", the copyright of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was also successfully won. Ice Storm, and Ang Lee continued to postpone "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". It was not until around 1998 that he had time to write a script.
If there were no such accidents one after another, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" might have been put on the shooting schedule long ago, but it is because the plan could not keep up with the changes, so Ang Lee's creative ideas changed again and again.
Compared with the novel, the movie version of the story has been changed beyond recognition.
In the novel, heroes Li Mubai and Yu Xiulian don't have many roles.
The core protagonist is Yu Jiaolong, whom everyone fears to avoid.
But under the inspiration of Elinor and Marianna, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" changed from a single heroine drama to a double heroine group drama. The branches of the plot, and from them, the stories of Li Mubai and Luo Xiaohu are derived, and finally, the whole movie is becoming more and more fulfilled.
It is no exaggeration to say that if "Sense and Sensibility" had not been filmed, Ang Lee might not have adopted the format of two heroines, and it is precisely because he referred to Jane Austen's novel that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" will be in Europe and the United States achieved a good result of 200 million.
Because the crooked nuts can understand and feel fresh!
For them, the chivalrous warriors are the oriental superheroes, and the emotional core under the cloak of martial arts can still set off a global popular culture of "Austin Mania". In this case, this movie will be rejected by crooked nuts That's a ghost, but at the same time that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was being scolded as a sieve in the ancient eastern country.
When "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was released, the best comment was "There is no handsome fighting like Li Lianjie, no elegant artistic conception like Mr. Xu, no natural feeling like Jackie Chan, the story is deliberate, hard to reason, and the plot is bloody." , soft and delicate...'
As for the rating on Douban?
That was raised later.
And this is actually a cultural invasion caused by Hollywood after the rapid development of the Internet.
Why did a movie that was sprayed to pieces back then turn over?
Was it because people at the time couldn’t understand it?
Do not make jokes.
It has been fifteen years since "The Promise", but no one still understands it.
But "Hero", which was also scolded as **** back then, slowly rose back.
Cultural creation is inherently a very private thing, and word of mouth is not good with achievements, and word of mouth will eventually rise slowly, because people will watch it many times because of their achievements, and want to find out why it is so popular. After you have convinced yourself that you want to learn, you will naturally feel that it is good.
But if the grades are not good, it is normal to follow the trend.
Because of this, after Ang Lee finished explaining and the waiters brought the dishes to the table one after another, Kate, who was watching while eating, was soon attracted by Yu Jiaolong's choice. When he was hesitating, the twisted feeling of playing Mariana back then came to my heart.
"Okay... sure enough..."
Kate smiled and said: "Family, love...these are two things that are difficult for everyone to choose..."
"If I'm not wrong, Yu Jiaolong should also like Li Mubai, right?"
"The Luo Xiaohu in the script is Willoughby? And Li Mubai is Brandon?"
Although it only turned around a quarter of the way, Kate has already guessed the direction of the subsequent plot.
Ang Lee and James Shams did not hide, nodded and said: "Almost."
Hearing these words, Kate, who had confidence in her heart, didn't continue to read, but glanced at her man.
After discovering that the other party was buried in hard work and seemed not ready to make an investment decision on the spot, Kate, who was in control of the initiative, asked again: "Although it's a cover-up, the Big Six shouldn't mind, right?"
"While "Rush Hour" is in theaters, shouldn't you seek investment from the Big Six?"
Kate is not a good man and a believer. After understanding the script, she grew up in the circle and already smelled something unusual.
The Big Six never mind the cover-up script, or in other words, their favorite is the cover-up script.
Because the sheath means the subcutaneous core, at least it has been successful.
With successful precedents, you can feel more at ease when investing.
After all, what Hollywood pursues is the industrialization of movies.
Learning from success can make money, so they will not take the initiative to innovate.
Therefore, Kate felt that there was something wrong with AngLee's behavior of taking "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to find her husband.
According to the normal situation, this book must first pass the hand of Liu Da, and after passing the hand of Liu Da, this book should not appear in front of him, because Liu Da can also evaluate the probability of success of the book.
Following her question, Ang Lee, who wanted to continue introducing the script, showed embarrassment. After meeting Kate's eyes, he turned his gaze to Roland. Anxiety from time to time reappears.
With a helpless smile on his face, he nodded slightly, not knowing how to answer.
After realizing that Kate didn't mean to change the subject, he even lowered his eyes and stared at the dinner plate in front of him.
It seems that there is a beautiful flower on it.
Such a situation also caused James Shams a very headache, because he knew that if he didn't stand up and tell the truth at this time, then this negotiation would probably go bad, "In fact...the Big Six are unwilling to invest us."
"Why?" Kate was confused again, "Can't they see that this is the Eastern version of "Sense and Sensibility"?"
"Or do they think only funny movies like Rush Hour can succeed?"
"Not at all..." Since his friend stopped talking, James Shams replaced AngLee and said, "Before you came, when AngLee and I were waiting at the door, he was looking at the statue of William Sherman. .”
"You should know who William Sherman is?"
"Graduated from West Point Military Academy, he was a famous general of the Union Army during the Civil War."
"When it comes to civil war, people's biggest impression is the motivation of both sides."
"What began as a war in the North to preserve the unity of the nation turned into a revolutionary war to eradicate slavery."
"For most people, the victory of the North has great, world-historic, progressive and revolutionary significance, but Ang Lee has just finished a film called "Riding with the Devil", in this In the movie, he didn't portray a big war, but started with a small person, and expounded a point of view..."
"For the people, this war is meaningless..."
When James Shams brought up the Civil War, Kate was a little surprised how this guy got off topic.
But after he said 'there is no right or wrong in this book', Kate immediately pursed her lips and lowered her head to eat the food.
Said that the victory of the North means nothing to ordinary people?
Aren't you courting death?
In the country of America, things like the Civil War can only be filmed with the main theme!
White is always north, they will only be victors, they in blue uniforms saved the world!
The black ones are always south, they can only be defeated, and the gray uniforms are the proof of being eliminated by the world!
The north has to be a progressive person, and it has to be avant-garde in thinking, while the south is always stubborn and conservative in behavior!
Yes, people cannot be simply divided, let alone two distinct factions, but movies have to be made like this!
It is not the compatriots who are killed by the North, but those who are stubborn and try to continue to enslave the black people who have abandoned God!
The south will only be the biggest obstacle to social progress!
Why?
Because history is written by the victors!
Are you scolding those in power on other people's territory?
While portraying the fierce and cruel image of the southern guerrillas, you also let those enlightened and kind southerners die under the butcher knife of the northerners?
Don’t flaunt yourself by saying that no one is a sage, no one has faults, no one will listen!
Sarcasm is sarcasm, no matter how you look at it, it's all sarcasm!
Using war to discuss human nature is something that many directors like to do.
But the premise of discussing human nature must be to stand in line.
Like Saving Private Ryan.
Anyone can see that the Stars and Stripes at the end is a point, but no one can publicly express that this kind of sensationalism is too deliberate.
Not to mention, for Hollywood controlled by the Jews, the victory of the North in the Civil War is of great significance, because the North liberated the blacks, and now they are watching these people speak out!
In this case, AngLee's **** is obviously not right.
And this kind of movie with a bad **** can only go down the road of failure.
The issue of position has always been very serious, since AngLee has shown his unique ideas to the outside world...
Then, don't blame the others for isolating him together.
"So we came to you."
After James Shams finished explaining, AngLee, with his head down, finally spoke.
“None of the Big Six are willing to invest, and Sony, which has the best attitude, just said that it will talk about it after the release of “Ride with the Devil.”
Although AngLee described her situation as miserable, Kate did not mean to soften her heart.
Even if the two have worked together before, she has a good impression of AngLee. Similarly, she also thinks that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" can be profitable, and Roland has had several pleasant deals with AngLee before, but now—
She is not going to intercede for AngLee.
As far as she is concerned, AngLee's current situation is self-inflicted. Even if Roland can vote for him, and if Roland steps forward, those Jews will not hate him, but—
Why would they help this?
Roland is her man, and AngLee is an outsider.
She will spend the rest of her life with Roland, so why did she want to harm the interests of her own man because of outsiders at the beginning?
Isn't this a brain disease?
But just as she was about to swallow the food in her mouth and directly reject the project for Roland, Roland, who was still engrossed in eating, suddenly kicked her secretly from below.
Kate felt strange and glanced at Roland. When she saw Roland's left hand holding the fork kept pressing down, she raised a smile when she understood, and naturally closed the script, put it aside, and said: "For the specific situation, we will Got it too."
"Whether to invest, we have to go back and read the script before making a decision."
Although Kate's response was very official, she did not reject it anyway.
The two of them couldn't talk much, so they nodded and agreed.
Since a very serious topic was discussed, the atmosphere in the private room was quite dull during the meal afterwards. In addition, each had their own thoughts, so after the hasty meal, the two parties said goodbye to each other, went back to their respective houses, and found each other. mom.
Looking at the car body that gradually moved away and finally disappeared, AngLee, who felt that hope might be dashed, asked:
"Do you think they'll agree?"
"Difficult." James Shams said truthfully, "Roland is Steven's student after all, and he will only stand in Steven's position."
"Really?" AngLee nodded and sighed, expressing his understanding.
"Hey... Then, we can only rely on ourselves..."
Before coming, AngLee was ready to be rejected, but now, it's just confirming the fantasy into reality.
And when he had already prepared his mind to receive a rejection call a few days later, Kate, who returned to the hotel, couldn't wait to figure out Roland's thoughts—
Note: ① "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is the martial arts version of "Sense and Sensibility". Playing a character like Emma Thompson. The main creative team has never shy away from this matter. ②It's no secret that "Riding with the Devil" has a bad butt. After filming this movie, Ang Lee never got any investment. And in the film review given by Roger Ebert, he also wrote about the biggest problem of "Ride with the Devil", 'History is written by the victors' (history is written by the victors), Roger Ebert affirmed the visual The correct entry point admits that people cannot be limited by their positions, but at the same time it also states the key to the film's failure, 'It\'sa film that would inspire useful discussion in history class' (this is a film that can cause useful discussions in history classes).
(end of this chapter)