America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 203 Birds and fish, one soars in the sky and the other dives deep into the sea

After more than a month, "The Life of Adele", Eric's second film directed this year after "Transformers", also had its premiere at the Arclight Cinema in Los Angeles.

Unlike the overwhelming publicity of "Transformers", "The Life of Adele" is not suitable for large-scale publicity. Even from the film project establishment to the start of filming and then to completion, it is always kept in a state of strict confidentiality.

Although same-sex themes are not as taboo as before, they are still not a popular topic, and the LGBT trend will not take off for more than ten years.

Judging from the major film festivals, Europe is relatively open to same-sex themes, and the Oscars are more conservative than Europe.

In the past few decades, there have been films with gay themes that have been nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, but none that have won the award.

Even "Brokeback Mountain," a popular theme at the time, was so well shot that it lost to "Crash" in the end.

But is "Brokeback Mountain" really not as good as "Crash"?

The media and many people think this is not the case. It is more because the trend was not yet established at that time, and the Oscar judges would also judge the situation and did not dare to break the shackles of the secular world.

In 2017, "Moonlight" unexpectedly defeated excellent films such as "Manchester by the Sea", "Hacksaw Ridge" and "La La Land" and won the Best Picture Award.

Because the social trend of thought was already surging at that time, Oscar naturally followed the trend and made a decision that most people did not expect.

In 2018, the jury was obviously more courageous and even awarded the grand prize to "The Shape of Water". A woman falling in love with an amphibious species is no longer a love between people.

Outside the United States, do you dare to believe that this thing can beat "Three Billboards"?

The biggest reason why "The Shape of Water" won the award is nothing more than political correctness. The views it conveyed were too consistent with Bai Zuo's ideas.

From the development trends of the Oscars over the years, we can see how much influence changes in social atmosphere have on a movie.

Filmmakers still have a certain pursuit and understanding of art, but they dare not openly go against the will of the public.

Not to mention ordinary people, there are many people who are prejudiced against gay-themed movies and even prejudiced against homosexuality.

This is especially true in conservative states like South Carolina, where religion dominates society.

So don’t look at the fact that films with same-sex themes are being shot every year, but they will not be screened on a large scale. Some theater owners will refuse, which is difficult.

More often than not, they choose to release the film on a small scale in dozens of cinemas first, and if the response is acceptable, then gradually expand the scale, but only a handful can break through to a thousand cinemas.

A standout film like "Brokeback Mountain" was only released in more than 600 theaters, which was really a huge obstacle.

With MGM's influence, almost all of the movies released this year have made a profit, helping theaters make a lot of money.

Therefore, theater owners were willing to give Eric face, and the premiere barely reached 500 theaters. This was the result of many negotiations and reached the limit.

Due to various special reasons, today is more of a symbolic ceremony than a premiere.

There was no red carpet, no celebrities were invited, only a large number of film critics came. Some were invited by MGM, and some came on their own initiative.

Everyone wants to know what the ingredients of this strictly confidential movie are.

The lights went down and Eric sat in the middle, with Ashley and Mary on his left and right.

This was the first time the two women had appeared in public for a movie in several months. Feeling their nervousness, Eric gently drew circles on their palms.

On the big screen, the story officially begins, part one - encounter.

Under the bright sunshine, with the appearance of Adele, many film critics' eyes lit up.

This look without makeup completely overturned Ashley's past image, turning her from the cute and cool girl into an ordinary girl who can be seen everywhere in daily life.

Film critic Kyle Kingsby of the San Francisco Post's entertainment column nodded secretly. As a woman, she likes this change in actresses, which will make the movie more life-like.

A good literary film should have this kind of atmosphere, and the film has a good beginning.

In the next few minutes, Adele's daily life began to be shown, including an ordinary family, an ordinary school, an ordinary classroom, and a few gossip-loving best friends.

If there is something bright, there is a male classmate who admires her.

"Hi Adele! Can I sit here?"

On the bus, the male classmate played by James McAvoy appeared on the stage. He did not have the overbearing CEO style in commercial movies, and there was no pointers from others. He was just a simple greeting, just like your life.

There is a hint of embarrassment and shyness in his expression, as if he is worried about the girl's rejection, which makes his image completely different from the American soldier in "Transformers".

Many people have just finished watching "Transformers", and the decisive roar before death still echoes in their minds.

As a result, looking at his current screen image, the contrast is difficult for many people to accept, but they have to admit that this young man has acting skills.

Adele's love seemed to come, and the two began to date, but Adele was always absent-minded during the process and seemed dissatisfied with the relationship.

While the two were dating, Mary, who had short blue hair, appeared with her arms around a girl. During the stunned intercourse, they met for a thousand years.

Many film critics were immediately keenly aware of the strangeness. Judging from their experience, the plot seemed to be developing in an unexpected direction.

Sure enough, when Adele returned home, she was lying in bed alone, and the scene in her dream was not with her boyfriend.

Adele woke up at a loss.

Dating with her boyfriend became more and more difficult, and she felt increasingly uncomfortable, so she could only confide in strange mutual aid groups.

"I don't feel right."

"If you don't get along, you should break up."

"No, it's not his problem, it's my own. I feel like I'm missing something."

"I am very indifferent to the feelings between men and women. I am obviously leaning on his shoulder, but like a bird and a fish, one soars in the sky and the other dives deep into the sea."

"It uses Rabindranath Tagore's poems, beautiful lines!" Seeing this, many film critics couldn't help but admire inwardly.

Finally, Adele could not go against her inner wishes and chose to break up with her boyfriend.

"Adele, I don't understand. Did I not do enough?"

"No, it's my own problem"

The two hugged each other and cried bitterly. One was crying about his lost love, and the other felt guilty but bravely chose to be himself.

After the breakup, she began to search for the girl who haunted her, and the two finally met in a gay bar.

"Choose the one you love!"

The movie lasted for more than half an hour, and the passion hidden in the deepest hearts of Adele and Emma exploded.

In the cinema, many people exclaimed, not because the scale of the sex scene was too big.

The maximum scale shown on the screen, and then some close-ups of faces, Eric edited without revealing any points.

If exposed, it will be classified as NC17, and minors are prohibited from watching, which will greatly affect the audience size.

If there is no nudity, it is rated R. Minors can watch it at least if they are accompanied by their parents. This parent is a very vague term, and older brothers, cousins, and distant relatives can all be counted.

What surprised the audience was that Ashley and Mary were biological sisters. They were not two unrelated actresses, but were related by blood.

This relationship is paired with fascinating scenes. Even if it is only briefly touched, the impact it brings is far greater than those explicit scenes.

"OMG!"

"Oh my God!"

“How did Eric Cooper convince them?”

The film critics from NBC and ABC looked at each other and read the surprise in each other's eyes.

Looking through film history, there has never been a similar situation.

How to shoot? Wouldn't it be awkward on set? Aren't there any psychological barriers?

With this in mind, everyone was highly focused, more concentrated than watching any movie.

The movie also enters the second part - falling in love.

Adele and Emma, ​​the colors of the picture become brighter and brighter, both showing their brightest smiles.

But behind the laughter there are hidden dangers, and the environments they live in can be said to be very different.

Emma lives in an artistic family, her parents are open-minded, and her friends encourage her to pursue true love and show her true self.

But Adele's family is conservative, and most of her parents and friends are opposed to homosexuality.

The huge difference in environment caused conflicts in their lives, especially since Adele did not dare to reveal her feelings to her parents, which led to their first quarrel.

Then the movie enters the third chapter - difference.

Facing Emma's circle of friends, especially about art, Adele couldn't get a word in at all. She was like an outsider watching Emma talk and laugh with others.

And she could only clean up the kitchen silently, with disappointment written on her face, but the excited Emma didn't notice.

There is a lack of communication between the two, and Adele likes to be passive and keep things in her heart.

Emma was a little nervous. She didn't notice it and just focused on her career.

After a period of time, the pressure of not being able to fit into the circle made Adele irritated, especially seeing Emma making her feel uncomfortable because of work.

In a daze, she agreed to the pursuit of her male colleague. The male colleague wanted to go further but was stopped by the sober Adele and could only send her home.

But this scene was captured by Emma, ​​and the two ushered in a conflict.

The movie also enters its fourth chapter - sinking.

After the breakup, both of them were in pain, not only because of the misunderstanding, but also because their lifestyles and ideological pursuits were too far apart.

Time flies and one year later, Adele changed into more professional clothes and a more mature hairstyle, and the two met again.

"How have you been during this time?"

"Yes, how about you?"

"Same as before, you changed your hairstyle."

"Looks a bit old, doesn't it?"

"No, she's very beautiful. Her previous hairstyle was too messy."

"Are you still with that girl?"

"Well, Liz gave birth to a baby and we raised it together."

"How was it? With her?"

Faced with this problem, Emma hesitated for a long time.

"Boring? Boring? Still?"

Emma then looked into Adele's eyes: "It's different from you anyway."

Their hands suddenly clasped together.

"Shall we start over?"

Emma was silent.

"Have you not forgiven me yet?"

"No, I have forgotten those things, they are not important!"

The two of them looked at each other silently, tears streaming down their eyes at the same time, and they choked and cried to express their longing for each other.

If that quarrel was a hoarse emotional outburst, this scene was a restrained and repressed outburst, which was very difficult.

For these two scenes, Eric put in a lot of effort to train the two sisters, which was no ordinary hard work.

At the end of the movie, Adele came to Emma and Liz's art exhibition, chatted with each other calmly, and left calmly.

No one knew why she came, and no one noticed when she quietly left.

indistinct!

As the movie ends, the theater lights come back on.

But the expected applause did not come, and hundreds of people present had complicated expressions.

Ashley and Mary's hearts suddenly pounded. What does this mean?

Silent protest?

They had thought about the worst situation. After all, it was really appalling for the sisters to go into battle.

But when I actually encountered it, I was still a little at a loss.

At the critical moment, Eric pulled up the two of them and led the main creators onto the stage. The process still had to be completed, even if it meant being scolded and criticized, the loser could not lose the team.

After I went up, I discovered that some seats in the auditorium were already empty. It was definitely not because of the length, because Eric had compressed the original three-hour plot into just over two.

If it’s not because of the length, it’s either not to my liking, I hate the subject matter, or I hate this group.

On the high platform, looking at the film critics and the audience not far away, the two sides looked at each other silently. Today's ceremony was very simple. There were no celebrities, and Eric naturally did not invite a host.

Seeing that indulging was no solution, Andrea picked up the phone and prepared to take the first step.

Eric gave her the opportunity to be a director, and she knew how to reciprocate.

Snapped!

But just when she was about to speak, a crisp round of applause erupted from the audience.

Bang bang!

Then the second and third applauders appeared.

bang bang bang

Suddenly, most people began to applaud, and the hall was instantly filled with warm applause.

The hanging hearts suddenly fell to the ground, and everyone on the stage breathed a long sigh of relief.

But not everyone liked it. Amidst the applause, Eric saw some audience members getting up and leaving.

Counting those who left the meeting in the middle, there were about sixty or seventy people who left without finishing.

Mixed praise and praise, controversy is coming!