Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 430
Dan Aykroyd is a very humorous person in life, and Ronald ate and drank with him at the party and had a great time.He made the party healthy, too, without all the beauties and illegal drugs that are typical of Hollywood, like drinking beer and chatting with old friends.

Maybe it was because Dan Aykroyd was Canadian, or maybe his good friend John Belushi died of drug abuse, anyway, this kind of party was very suitable for Ronald.

Ronald got along very well with him, and the two made an appointment together. When they had time, they would invite John Candy, Michael J. Fox, and Cameron and other Canadians who had broken into Hollywood to have a party together.

There are generally two types of comedians.One is that, like Bill Murray, he is very serious and boring in life, and being funny is just their job.They often need to copy other people's jokes, and then rack their brains to calculate the rhythm and the reaction of the audience to make the jokes play the best effect.

There is another kind, like Aykroyd, who is more witty and humorous in life.In life, they are also people with a great sense of humor, and they will laugh at themselves when there are unsatisfactory things in life.They are very interesting to get along with, and they are more relaxed when performing.

After resting at home for a few days, "Night of the Comet" is still a nail in the theater.It has been several weeks, and the single-house box office is still quite high. The Atlantic's distribution capacity is unable to expand the number of screenings, but it can still maintain more than 300 theaters.The box office is also rising by more than 100 million every week.

On the contrary, "Superman III", which Warner Bros. placed high hopes on, began to drop rapidly at the box office from the second week.Black comedy star Richard Pryor invested in the film, securing himself the role of the villain Gus, replacing Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor.

But his language style full of "color", and the vulgar gags of black talk shows are incompatible with the atmosphere of the Superman series of movies.Audiences yelled that the movie sucks, and reviews and box office were dropping at the speed of light.

The news reached Pinewood Studios in London, and it made Helen Slater, who was playing Supergirl there, nervous.It took Ronald and her a few transatlantic phone calls to reassure her.The intensive and high-intensity filming made Helen a little nervous, and she also became suspicious of the failure of the Superman series at the box office.

On this day, Ronald received a call from Weintraub. The actor who played Master Miyagi that he had hoped for in his heart had already arrived in Hollywood by plane from Japan, and asked Ronald if he wanted to meet.

This is certainly not the scope of a screenwriter, and co-producer's business.But the actors who came were too famous.With the continuous recommendation of Spielberg, Coppola, and George Lucas, Hollywood has great admiration for Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.

And Weintraub invited to audition, officially Akira Kurosawa's long-term queen actor, Toshiro Mifune known as "the greatest samurai on the Japanese screen".

Toshiro Mifune arrived at Weintraub's mansion with his interpreter.In his large living room, Mifune bowed slightly to Weintraub and Evelson politely, and sat on the leather sofa.

"You don't mind if I smoke a cigar?" Toshiro Mifune asked in Japanese, and a young Japanese man by his side helped him translate into English.Weintraub graciously held up the match, lit a thin Japanese cigar, and Mifune smoked.

"Kurosawa-kun, please introduce the masters." Mifune said to the translator, looking at the young Ronald.He looked nothing like Weintraub and could not have been his child.

"Please let me introduce to you, the film producer Mr. Weintraub you are already familiar with, this is the supervisor Evelson, he used to be the supervisor of the boxing film 'Rocky'."

"Ha Yi, Evelson Sang." Mifune nodded and saluted.

"This is screenwriter Ronald." The translator Kurosawa-san introduced Ronald.

"Ha Yi, such a young screenwriter? The truth is amazing. He reminds me of your father, Kurosawa-kun."

"Mr. Mifune surprised him by saying you were very young."

"Thank you Mr. Mifune for your compliment. I really like his 'Intention Stick', which is my favorite work of his." Hearing the translation, Ronald also revealed that he is a fan of Toshiro Mifune.

"Kurosawa-kun, thanks for having you this time." After listening to the interpreter, Mifune asked the interpreter to convey his affection for Ronald.

This young translator is none other than Hisao Kurosawa, the eldest son of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.He opened a small production company in America and monopolized all the business agents of his father Akira Kurosawa in America.It also helps Toho, Shochiku and other Japanese studios to expand their business here.

Ronald looked carefully at Mifune, and listened to him, Weintraub, and Evelson discussing "Longwei Boy" through a translator.

Toshiro Mifune was wearing a light-colored suit, and he had lost a lot of gray hair, combing it meticulously.But after all, he is old, and after a long journey, he can no longer hide his deep bags under the eyes and a few inconspicuous age spots on his face.

This Dongying star, who was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province in 60, is over [-] years old.Ronald had already yawned a few times when he watched him discuss the plot with Evelson.It seems that the energy is a little weak.

Ronald got up to pour himself a cup of coffee, and whispered his discovery in Weintraub's ear as he passed.

Weintraub woke up from the joy of seeing his idol, got up quickly, and asked Mifune and Kurosawa to go to the hotel to rest first, and then communicate in depth later.

It was Ronald who helped Mifune to remind him, and he also came to smile at him to show his kindness.

"Kurosawa-kun, please thank Ronald-san for me."

"I'm your movie fan, Mifune-chan. I've seen all the movies you collaborated with Kurosawa that I can find in America." Ronald actually likes those sword-and-half movies made by Akira Kurosawa, with a kind of The stern temperament, the narrative is crisp and neat, and the atmosphere is first-class.

"Oh, I don't know which one is your favorite?" Mifune waited for the car at the door of the living room, and simply chatted with Ronald through Hisao Kurosawa.

"My favorite is the scene where you duel with Nakadai Tatsuya in 'Tsubaki Sansakuro'. I have always wondered how you rehearsed that lore move, as if you and Mr. Nakadai Tatsuya were in a real duel Same, the emotional outburst was good."

After listening to Mifune translated by Kurosawa Hisao, he nodded and replied, "Then I would like to thank Supervisor Kurosawa. If he didn't say that the filming was not good, he would have to fight with a real sword. Nakadai-kun and I wouldn't be so afraid. It's done, hahaha."

"So you haven't rehearsed that scene?" Ronald was surprised, but he could also explain why the two of them were so emotionally explosive. If there were more rehearsals, the emotional response would weaken a lot.

"This is also a coincidence. At that time, the props of the control mechanism made a mistake, and the switch was turned too large, which caused the blood on Nakadai Tatsuya to soar too much and too fast. Everyone thought I really cut Nakadai-kun. They all screamed, and you can still hear it when you watch the film.

I was a little worried too, so you could tell I was nervous in that shot.All I could think about was that I must not make mistakes, otherwise I would have wasted Nakadai Tatsuya-kun's kindness. "

"The car is coming, Mifune-kun." Kurosawa Hisao reminded from the side.

Ronald helped open the door and sent the three boats into the car.

He kind of understood now why Kubrick would call himself, asking how to shoot some scenes.

The final duel scene of "Tsubaki Thirty Lang" was very straightforward, but Ronald always had a question.Generally speaking, there are two shooting methods for fighting scenes. One is like a lightsaber duel in "Star Wars". Two actors swing their weapons in one place so that no one is in danger of being injured.

The second method is the method of Western films.Both sides swung each other's weapons.If the protagonist doesn't have a weapon, hit his torso and give the protagonist a hand to block.The advantage of this method is that it is not as rigid as the first method, but more realistic.

But both methods have a disadvantage, that is, they must be recruited.If the camera is aimed at the two sides of the duel and a close-up is taken, it will be found that the actors themselves do not feel the danger of real fighting, so it is difficult to perform the emotion of the moment between victory and defeat.

Akira Kurosawa, in order to capture the momentary fear of winning a duel, thankfully, unwillingly, etc., actually threatened the actors to shoot with real knives if they couldn't shoot well. He was really desperate to make a movie.However, the fact that the props coincidentally opened up the water pipe also happened to stimulate the real reaction of both parties.

For the final duel scene of "Longwei Boy", if it wants to have this kind of texture, it must be designed well, and strive to make the two protagonists succeed at one time. If the second scene is shot, it will not have the intensity of the first time. natural reaction.

"But this should not be something I should consider." Ronald shook his head, and his occupational disease was committed again. He kept thinking about how to design the scene. Evelson filmed the "Rocky" boxing scene, but it was very popular. Praise, presumably he has his own method.

"Ronald, John, I think Mifune is an excellent candidate to play Mr. Miyagi. The samurai in Master Akira Kurosawa's movie came to teach Danny karate, and American audiences couldn't be happier." Wen Te Raub returned to the living room, pulling Ronald and Avelson to discuss.

Weintraub insisted on Toshiro Mifune, but both Ronald and Everson realized that Mifune was too old for action scenes.Miyagi has a lot of roles in teaching Danny. It would be too cruel for an old man in his 60s to practice karate.

"Of course, Mifune is the spokesperson for the image of Japanese samurai, but his action scenes may not be able to produce satisfactory results." Avelson immediately objected, "And he speaks in a slow and dramatic tone, which is similar to the films after the New Wave. The line requirements have been out of touch."

"Huh?" Ronald glanced at Evelson and thought, "Didn't you teach me not to directly convince the producers of my point of view, but to make them think it's my own?"

"That's Toshiro Mifune, as long as he appears on the screen, it will make the audience happy." Weintraub is obviously also a fan of Japanese movies, and he is very fond of swordsman films by directors such as Akira Kurosawa.

"Not many people in America have actually seen the films directed by Akira Kurosawa. I think most audiences heard the name of Akira Kurosawa through the mouths of Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg. "Evelson said his point of view again.

"What do you think? Ronald." Weintraub did not disagree with Evelson's statement, but Toshiro Mifune appeared in the first movie he produced. This temptation is too great, which is tantamount to his own dream. come true.

"I'm thinking about a question, Mr. Weintraub. In our script, Mr. Miyagi's identity is arranged as a Japanese American. He is an apartment repairman on weekdays. He likes potted plants. The shortcoming is English grammar. sucks.

But he usually has no problem communicating with people. Ronald asked the question from another angle.

"You're right, and then?" Weintraub asked.

"So Miyagi is actually a person who doesn't speak English with correct grammar. Isn't he a little bit different from someone who doesn't speak English at all?"

"That's right," Weintraub thought for a while and thought it made sense, "If you say that, you remind me of another question. Mr. Mifune can't speak English, so when he performs his lines, will he let the Some people think that he is a real Dongying person, not the kind of Japanese who has completely wrong English grammar but can communicate with ordinary people?"

"And what we need in our movie is a master who can explain moves and life experience to Danny. If such a person can't speak English, he won't be able to convince the audience."

Weintraub seemed to have discovered a blind spot, and turned to Ronald and Evelson.

"Did you know? Mr. Weintraub, I think you are right. Mr. Miyagi should be more like Master Yoda in Star Wars. Flipping sentences does not prevent him from imparting the wisdom of Skywalker." Rona Germany agreed.

"Very well, John, we still arrange an audition for Mr. Mifune tomorrow, but according to my opinion, his chances are not great." Weintraub drank the rest of the coffee with a little regret.

(End of this chapter)