Exploiting Hollywood 1980

In the end, Ronald agreed with Universal's opinion and ignored the two Israelis' copycat work, insisting on not changing his own release date. He believed that the quality of his film was far superior to that of the Israelis.

The Israeli Go-Go brothers were also very happy to hear the news. They spent a lot of money to buy the rights to use famous bands such as U2 to make movie interludes.

The two Israeli fat men thought they had found the "box office code" for the American film market.

That day, Ronald received a call from Helen Slater.

"I'm coming to Los Angeles."

"Really, when are you coming?"

"No need, my agent has arranged it for me. I'm going to Los Angeles for an audition, and I'll call you when the time comes."

"That's great, what role are you auditioning for?"

"It's the role that all Hollywood actresses want."

Ronald called his agent to find out what role Helen was going to audition for.

"It should be the movie "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​that Italian director Leon has been preparing for ten years. TiArica)" Richard answered his question.

Almost all actresses between 18 and 30 years old auditioned for this movie. Leon even turned down the director job of "The Godfather" for this movie.

From the younger Debra Winger to the older Susan Sarandon. There are also former actress Sissy Spacek and Best Supporting Actress Mel Streep, who auditioned for the leading role.

And the younger generation of actresses he is familiar with and has worked with, such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Lane, Brooke Shields, etc., also went to audition.

After calling Diane and Brooke, Ronald found that actresses under the age of 18 also auditioned. Went to audition. Diane and Brooke both auditioned for the young version of the heroine Deborah.

The director is very ambitious, raising $30 million to shoot in many places in America, Italy, Canada and other places. It is a masterpiece that surpasses "The Godfather".

But this has nothing to do with Ronald, he can't get in touch with such a big production now.

In addition, after Niceta's operation with Coppola, Ronald was able to enter the final round of interviews for the director apprenticeship of "The Untamed", and he will go to the scene to watch Coppola's film and learn from the master.

"Francis is a proud man, I can't influence his decision, and it depends on your interview performance in the end.

But I think you should have a lot of advantages. The other directors who went to the interview are mainly shooting small productions of small companies. There are not many like you who have shot theatrical films of the seven major studios. "

Nicita was giving Ronald instructions in person. Because he was an apprentice with one of the top three directors in Hollywood, many second-generation stars and descendants of production company executives were also squeezed into the final interview.

"Coppola's "Zeelegraph" company is in a worrying financial situation. He hasn't even paid the screenwriter and the original novel author, Ms. Hinton, the screenwriter's fee.

So Coppola didn't just use this project paid by the Directors Guild as an apprentice. He would require it as an assistant director. Someone like you with practical shooting experience is exactly what he needs. "

"There are five interviewees in total, and you are the last one in line."

The place where the apprentice director was interviewed was an office in the "Zeelegraph Studio" in Los Angeles. This studio is where Coppola filmed "Old Love, New Love".

The movie failed at the box office and was removed by the theater chain after one week of release. If the studio can't pay the rent after a period of time, it will be taken back by the owner.

"I'm Ronald, Ronald Lee, here for an interview."

"Okay, Mr. Lee, you can go in."

"Am I not the last one in line? "Ronald looked at his watch. He was not late. How could Coppola interview people so quickly?

When he pushed open the door, he saw a small screening room. The first two rows of seats were filled with interviewees. Coppola and novelist and screenwriter Ms. SE Hinton sat at the top.

Ronald was about to greet them when he heard an assistant come over and announce the start of the interview.

"This? Is this how Coppola interviews people?" Ronald thought to himself, "I thought he would call each person one by one for an individual interview. If they were interviewed together, all the candidates participating in the interview could hear the answers of others."

"Why did you come to apply for the position of trainee director?" Coppola adjusted his large black-framed glasses and began to ask the first candidate questions casually.

"I want to learn from the greatest director in the world."

"Do you like my movies? Which one do you like best?"

"I like "The Godfather" best."

"What about you? "Coppola asked the second candidate.

"I like 'The Rain Tribe' the most."

This candidate is obviously a die-hard fan of Coppola, and has even watched the niche movies shot by Coppola.

"Oh, why?"

"Because..." The second candidate talked a lot about his favorite performance methods and narrative methods.

"What about you? What do you like?" Coppola asked the third one.

"I like 'The Godfather 2' the most because of its unparalleled use of flashbacks throughout the film." The third candidate has learned to answer the original meaning of favorite.

Gu\u0026lt;/span\u0026gt;Coppola looked at the fourth candidate, a girl, the niece of a senior executive of Warner Bros. Coppola knew about her existence in advance.

“My favorites are your ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now.’ Because The Godfather uses an auteur film approach to make traditional gangster films from Warner Bros.

And Apocalypse Now is a profound anti-war film. You were the first to film the theme of the Vietnam War... At that time, only the Chinese could accept your anti-war theme. They awarded you the Palme d'Or and you deserved it..."

The girl talks about Coppola's movies so well that she can't stop once she starts them.

Francis Coppola had to raise his hands and ask her to stop. "Apocalypse Now" was the movie I wanted to make, but it was also the main culprit of Peep Show's financial troubles.

It took a whole year to shoot the movie, and the protagonist had a heart attack, a typhoon destroyed the set, government troops drove away helicopters to fight the rebellion, and the actors encountered real tigers in the jungle... and other messy problems.

Compared to "The Godfather," Coppola spent much more effort on "Apocalypse Now."

"What about you? What do you think? Which movie of mine did you like?" Coppola looked at the last candidate and flipped through the names on the list, "Ronald?"

This is also the candidate that new agents recommend to themselves. However, there is only one paid spot from the Directors Guild, and I can only choose one of them who can give me advice.

Young people always have some wild ideas. This movie is about young people, so it’s best to have young people on the crew.

Ronald didn't expect Coppola's interview to be so casual. He thought about it and replied:

"Apocalypse Now."

"Did you also like it because you were anti-war?" Coppola looked at Ronald, who remembered the name.

Tanin, a senior executive at Universal, once let himself see a film he made, a typical Roger Corman-style exploitation film. I wonder if his preference for making movies is as boring as Roger Corman's.

Where does one start with whether "Apocalypse Now" is anti-war? I don’t see any anti-war tendencies, but Coppola himself said in Cannes that the movie is anti-war. No one knows what he thinks. If what he said is not in line with his feelings...

"Ronald?" Hinton, who was sitting next to him, called his name and reminded himself not to think about it for too long. Coppola had already turned his attention to the script.

"I don't think 'Apocalypse Now' is a war-themed movie"

No matter, Ronald told his true opinion.

"Oh?" Coppola raised his head, this was an unexpected answer. All film critics are praising the anti-war ideas of Apocalypse Now, and some think it is praising war, but they have not gotten rid of the theme of war. This young man has his own ideas.

"So what kind of movie is it?" Coppola asked.

The niece of the executive next to him looked at Ronald and felt a little pity for his situation. This man spoke shockingly. At first, it was because it was the last person's turn to answer the question, and the answers had been finished by the people in front. It is a last resort.

Fortunately, I answered before him. I had prepared reviews of all Coppola's films in newspaper and magazine columns in advance, and studied them for a long time before I could talk about them. If he also fell to the last answer, he would probably not be much better than him.

"I think it's essentially a psychological thriller."

"Huh?" The executive's niece was also quite surprised.

Thriller is a genre film. It is different from horror movies, which often use monsters that suddenly jump out to scare you, while thrillers scare people through pre-set suspense.

The classic representatives of thrillers are Hitchcock's classic films. By setting up suspense in advance, the audience knows from the beginning what kind of opponent the protagonist will face, but the protagonist himself often doesn't know it yet.

“I think ‘Apocalypse Now’ is really about a man wrestling with his own subconscious beast,” Ronald continued.

"What nonsense are you talking about? 'Apocalypse Now' is obviously a war movie, what does it have to do with a thriller?" A fellow interviewer couldn't help it and scolded Ronald.

"No, it's not a war movie." Ronald expressed his thoughts, and his thoughts became clearer and clearer.

"War movies must have war scenes. Every war scene gets bigger and bigger, and the final scene is the biggest.

The scale of the war in 'Apocalypse Now' is getting smaller and smaller. From the helicopter war at the beginning, to the steamboat attack and defense, and finally to Colonel Coates' territory, it turned into a cold weapon war.

And the last scene..."

Ronald said this, glanced at Coppola, and found that he was looking at him with interest.

"In the climax of the last scene, we only see the duel between the protagonist Willard in the dim light and the villain Colonel Coates in the dark. This is actually a metaphor. In the end, reason defeats the beastiality in the subconscious. Finish."

"But isn't this an anti-war theme? War has caused indelible trauma to people's souls." The niece of a Warner Bros. executive was also attracted by Ronald's statement and refuted it.

"Anti-war films have a lot of descriptions of the psychological trauma of people and soldiers, but these 'Apocalypse Now's don't have that. In fact, I think the climax scene illustrates the essence of a movie. It doesn't describe the impact of war on soldiers. Damage to normal human emotions such as family affection and love.”

"Of course, this is just my personal interpretation. The charm of classics is that they can be interpreted from different aspects." Ronald finally added that he did not want to argue with his interview opponents and ended his speech.

"Okay, that's it for the interview. My assistant will inform you of the results tomorrow."

Coppola stopped looking at the interviewees, and the assistant next to him came over to ask them to leave.

"Is Ronald right?" Novelist Hinton was very interested in the issue they had just discussed. Seeing Coppola circled the names of Ronald and the executive's niece, he asked.

"Classics always have many interpretations." Coppola replied with a smile.