Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The mastermind behind this is "Ronggui" who is also the favorite to win the prize. United Artists, the film's distributor, also began to exert its efforts in the media, criticizing "The Deer Hunter" from the audience's perspective for being tedious and making up Russian roulette scenes.

In this way, Ronald unfortunately got involved in the scolding war between two major Oscar-winning films. Stealing the "show" on TV.

Every day when walking on the road, people would recognize him and ask him if he was "Sleepy Luo". Some people agreed with Ronald's assessment and smiled and wanted to high-five him. There are also some fans of "The Deer Hunter" who cursed him for not understanding the movie and talking nonsense.

Ronald had no choice but to put on his sunglasses and go out and spend time in Chinatown every day. No one there cared about him attacking a Vietnam War movie.

After a few days, Sleepy Luo's fever subsided slightly. Then the feud unexpectedly led to the issue of director Michael Cimino's integrity.

Speaking of which, director Michael Cimino himself has to be blamed for this.

Because the plot of Russian roulette in the film is absurd and bizarre, such a scene would not be possible in any modern war, let alone the Vietnam War. What if the officer forces the prisoner to play Russian roulette with a revolver, and if nothing else, the prisoner shoots you several times with a gun and dies with you?

This put a lot of pressure on Universal, the publisher of "The Deer Hunter".

Universal had a rigorous plan from the beginning, releasing the film for only one week in 1978 to meet Oscar criteria. Most of the guests invited to watch the movie are Oscar judges and family members. This has two benefits.

First, it is a disguised compliment to the judges. Being able to watch the movie "The Deer Hunter" is a status symbol. In addition, it is said that during the screening, the judges received accompanying gifts. So after a week of screenings last year, all the media was doing was rave reviews.

Secondly, it has also created a hungry feeling in the market, a movie with rave reviews, but ordinary audiences cannot see it. If it can use the good reviews to win several important nominations for the Oscars, then if it is released to the public, the audience will be there in a short time. Rush to the cinema within the time to take a sneak peek, the box office numbers will be great.

This is why Universal packaged "The Deer Hunter" from the beginning as a reflective film reflecting the humanity of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War has ended nearly four years ago, but the huge scars caused in America continue to tear apart society. If there is a movie that can seize the opportunity and capture the trauma of the Vietnam War on society, then the box office will not be far behind.

However, the key plot was fabricated and the Russian roulette scene was exaggerated by competitors through the media, which had a great impact on Universal's box office plans.

At this time, director Michael Cimino jumped out to defend the authenticity of this plot in order to win awards and protect the box office. He said that during the Vietnam War, he was a medical soldier in the Green Berets of the US Army. He was sent to the front line and participated in the 1968 "Spring Offensive" that led to the capture of the protagonist in the film. He also said that things several times more exaggerated than this happened in the Vietnam battlefield.

But if you calculate it this way, the age of director Michael Cimino does not match the time when recruits were recruited for the 1968 Spring Offensive. The recruits in 1968 were generally born around 1950 and are less than 30 years old this year, but the director looks almost 40.

Faced with this problem, Michael Cimino claimed in an interview with Daily Variety that he was born in 1952 and is only 27 years old this year.

"Have you ever seen such a greasy 27-year-old fat man? His hairline is so far back and he has a fat double chin. You are only 27? Who are you fooling?"

Ronnie complained to Gail at an Italian restaurant near New World Studios. In order to find someone to discuss how to deal with the Sleepy Luo incident, Ronald specially invited Gale out for lunch.

"Hahaha, Sleepy Luo. Don't be angry." Gale also teased him.

"Will this matter have any impact on me, Gale? You have worked with Mr. Coleman for so long and have seen a lot. I always have an intuition that this matter will come back to me in the future."

"Well, yes, you have been intensively reported by the media in the past two days. The TV stations are showing the two interview clips where you criticized 'The Deer Hunter'." Gale smiled, "There is also a clip of yawning."

Ronald rolled up the spaghetti viciously with his fork and ate it in one bite, accompanied by minced meat and tomato sauce.

"But I am innocent. I actually said good things, but the damn TV station edited my words to look like that."

"Don't be angry, Ronald. You have been in the editing room and you know that editing can go against the original intention, or even produce completely opposite meanings. What the media likes most is popularity. Now these two Vietnam War movies, for Oscar fights so hard you actually get sucked into it."

"Then what can I do?"

"There's nothing you can do, Ronald. Of course, there's nothing you need to do," Gale said.

"Then I'll just watch?" Ronald was still angry.

"Yes, to a certain extent. You just wait until the Oscars are over and the media won't pay attention to Sleepy Lo."

It seemed like that was all we had to do.

Ronald sighed secretly, "Has the time for the preview of Rock and Roll High School been confirmed?"

"Let me take a look." Gale took out his notebook and checked it. "Yes, it has been set for April 10, the day after the Oscars."

At this time, the TV hanging from the ceiling of the restaurant was turned on by the boss, "This is the regional station of KNBBC in Los Angeles. The director of the Oscar-nominated "The Deer Hunter", the biggest dark horse of this year's Oscars, accepted an interview with this station to clarify his military service experience..."

Michael Cimino, with his fat double chin, talked to the camera:

"The screenwriter of the movie accused me of stealing his work? No, no, I am a very good screenwriter. I wrote my last movie myself. The first draft he wrote? That's pure garbage. I took it and rewrote it all."

"Sleepy Luo's opinion? He accused me of making the movie make people drowsy? I want to say, if this is the real opinion of Sleepy Luo, I advised him not to go into the film industry. The perception of beauty and art is a gift. With such a gift, no matter how hard he tries, it will be difficult for him to make a name for himself in the film industry. "

Ronald was so angry that he slapped the table, and with a bang, he attracted everyone's attention. He was so scared that he shrank his neck, turned up his collar, and put on sunglasses. "Sorry, Gail, I didn't mean it."

"People who know me know that I like to joke, and sometimes I will half-joke when I am interviewed. 27 years old? Of course it's a half-joking statement, because I look young, so I want to test how old your reporters can believe me to be. In fact, I was born in 1949 and I am 30 years old this year."

"I don't believe you." Ronald muttered angrily.

In the next few days, Ronald had to pretend not to see the news, deceiving himself like covering his ears and stealing the bell, and not seeing Sleepy Ronald yawning on TV. Fortunately, the media gradually began to shift their fire, and his yawns appeared less and less on TV.

I called Mara several times, but didn't coax her back. I guess I made her lose face in front of her classmates, and it will be difficult for her to calm down in a short time.

Days passed, and the competition for Oscars this year was more intense than in previous years. The fat director of "The Deer Hunter", Michael Cimino, was being attacked for his birth age. His defense became increasingly weak. His birth year went from 1949 to 1947, 1945, and finally stopped at 1943.

The fat director's mouth has no credibility in the film industry, and the public has no good impression of a person who has to lie about his age. Therefore, everyone is generally skeptical about the plot of Russian roulette, believing that it was made up by director and screenwriter Michael Cimino himself.

At this time, Universal Pictures, which had already placed a heavy bet on "The Deer Hunter" to win the award, finally fought back.

They did not waste ammunition on the age of fat Cimino, but directly attacked Jane Fonda on the other side.

First, Universal united all the main actors, including Robert De Niro, who was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor, Christopher Walken, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor, and Meryl Streep, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress, to jointly support the director.

The three accepted a TV interview, and the main argument was: Russian Roulette is not about the Vietnam War, but a possibility. The Deer Hunter is not about the Vietnam War, but describes the possibility of any war. Fat director Michael Cimino, he filmed the human reaction under any war.

The audience does not need to be serious about whether the plot is true on the battlefield in Vietnam. Instead, when watching the movie, they should focus on the beautiful shots and the destruction of humanity by war.

"So Russian Roulette is a fabrication, it is not the Vietnam War, but a fictitious reference to any war. The male protagonist returns to his hometown to rob his friend's fiancée, which is the destruction of humanity by war, and it is a criticism of the Vietnam War's harm to humanity."

Ronald complained to Cameron in a bad mood. I happened to come to the stunt model factory that day and had lunch and chatted with Cameron.

"Anyway, this fat guy is always right!"

Universal first threw a smokescreen to justify the Russian roulette plot.

Then they played a real trick and caught a fatal mistake made by Jane Fonda, the heroine of "Coming Home".

Fonda has repeatedly said that "Coming Home" is the better Vietnam War movie in this year's Oscars. But in a TV interview, Jane Fonda admitted that she has not watched "The Deer Hunter" so far.

Having not watched "The Deer Hunter", and saying that her "Coming Home" is better than its opponent, Universal seized this handle and launched a full-scale attack in the media. This time it was the turn of the "Coming Home" crew and Jane Fonda to be embarrassed.