Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Staten Island? Are you from Staten Island?"

"Yeah, I graduated high school there."

At the premiere of Paul Newman's directorial debut "The Glass Menagerie", all Hollywood filmmakers in Cannes came to support it. It is one of only two Hollywood films to compete for the Palme d'Or.

Paul Newman came to Cannes again this time, the biggest star in Hollywood. Whether it's Ronald, Minahan Golan, or Elizabeth Taylor, they all come to participate. Fight for face in Hollywood movies.

Last night, Chinese director Maurice Pialat's entry "Under the Sun of Satan" was praised by all European guests, who attended in full formal attire.

These two movies are both adaptations of famous works and the works of famous actors turned directors. But they represent two opposite value orientations.

"The Glass Menagerie" is a continuing Broadway-Hollywood theatrical tradition that pays attention to storytelling techniques. "Under Satan's Sunshine" continues the tradition of the new wave of Lao Guo's jump-cut, non-narrative, and emphasis on emotion.

As the two films have relatively high calls for awards and have many similarities, Paul Newman hopes to win the competition. The Palme d'Or in Cannes is decided by the jury, but the publicity of these stars will affect the perception of some judges to some extent, and many people have personal relationships with the judges. So Paul Newman and his wife, Joanna Woodward, chatted about the movie with all the guests.

"Joanna and I, when we were first married, bought a house on the north end of Staten Island, and we spent the best years of our lives there." Newman heard that Ronald was a native of Stanton. , immediately became interested, and chatted with him about some of his life after marriage.

"Ah, it is now a tourist attraction. Many people take the ferry from Manhattan Island to Staten Island to see your former residence." Ronald heard Aunt Karen say this.

"Ah...hahahaha", Newman happily recalled which house. At that time, Newman had just started to go on the road. He didn't have much money, so the couple pooled their money to buy it. "You don't know, I was so happy at the time. Marrying Joanna was like standing on my head. Oh my God, she was a star at that time, and I was just a fledgling actor."

Talking about the past, Newman kissed his wife affectionately.

"At that time, I thought Paul wasn't very good at acting, but he was very handsome, so it was good to take advantage of me." Joanna Woodward joked about her husband. This time, Director Newman asked her to play the role of mother in the autobiographical work of Tennessee Williams, the most famous American playwright. She was really addicted to the drama.

"Oh, I just thought she was the most wonderful woman I'd ever met."

The two are a model couple in Hollywood. They have been deeply in love as a couple since they got married, and there have been no scandals.

…

"Do you think their movie can win?" After watching the movie, Ronald asked Minahan Golan, who was with him.

"It's a good movie, but our Cannon's 'The Shy Man' is not bad either. Andre's directorial skills are still very recognized by Europeans, and the heroine Barbara Hershey has just played Woody ·Ellen’s ‘Hannah Sisters’, people in China recognize him very much.”

Minahan didn't answer the question, but Ronald understood. Of the two Hollywood films participating in the exhibition, he is still more optimistic about "The Shy Man" produced by his company. Although director Andrei Konchalovsky no longer has the nationality of the Soviet Union, he is still popular in Europe, and the judges of the Union nationality on the jury are not likely to embarrass him.

"What about the Chinese version of 'Under Satan's Sun'?" Ronald asked again.

"They haven't won the Palme d'Or in Cannes for 20 years, and they probably won't win this year either." Minahan feels that Chinese films have completely fallen behind and no longer have the momentum of the new wave to lead the world.

…

"Then they have a better chance." After returning to the hotel, Ronald and his agent Richard also discussed the ownership of the Palme d'Or. "This year is the 40th anniversary of Cannes. Is it better to keep the Palme d'Or in China?" It’s very fitting. The chairman of the jury for the Palme d’Or is Yves Montand.”

"What you say makes sense. I really don't understand these award-winning things. I almost fell asleep watching those Chinese movies. Fortunately, we have completed our obligations in Cannes and are about to return to China." Luo Nader took the time to watch a lot of Cannes films, and to be honest, not many of them were good.

European movies always give people the impression that the director's personal touch is too strong. Ordinary viewers watching these movies may not understand what they are expressing.

For example, the movie "Under Satan's Sun" tells the story of a priest and a country girl who encountered the devil in the 1920s.

Not to mention that Ronald didn't understand the "deep content" that the director wanted to express, and the audience who went to watch the premiere didn't understand either.

Guests wearing tuxedos and bow ties were already whistling and stamping their feet in protest while watching the show. At the end of the movie, more than half of the audience had left.

"Don't be so direct when you're being interviewed." Richard reminded Ronald not to be so obviously disparaging of Chinese filmmakers when he was being interviewed by the media in Cannes.

"I'm not that stupid."

This time, in order to promote "Dirty Dancing", Ronald also found the media to accept this kind of interview with a special purpose. In order for the other party to say good things about his film, of course he would not make the Chinese media unhappy. They are waiting for the Golden Palm to return to the arms of the Chinese 20 years later.

"Yeah, I like this movie very much. This is the second time I have brought a dance movie to Cannes for the premiere.

I like China very much, and I like the history of Chinese films. Mr. Truffaut's "Day for Night" is my favorite movie about making movies.

Yes, the actors in China are very distinctive, and I look forward to working with them one day

..."

Ronald gave each media about 10 minutes. Anyway, the questions and answers were the same every time, so it didn't take much thought.

For more than 20 media, he had to smile enthusiastically every time. Even if the other party asked a very stupid question and he had heard it for the 20th time, he had to treat it as the best question, look into the other party's eyes and praise him, and then repeat the boring standard answer.

"Who will win the Palme d'Or this year? That depends on the jury. Personally, I like Paul Newman's "Glass Menagerie" and Konchalovsky's "The Shy Man" the most.

They are all Hollywood movies, so of course, I'm an American, hahaha."

"I saw you at the premiere of "Under the Sun of Satan" yesterday, Director Ronald, you seemed to be asleep, don't you like that movie?"

When it came to the last few media interviews, Ronald suddenly heard a slightly out of line question. He looked at the other reporter, a thin and gloomy man, but with a pair of stubborn eyes.

"I think I may have been distracted. In fact, I don't dislike it. I don't deny that compared to the Chinese films participating in the competition in Cannes this year, I prefer Gaumont's "First Kiss" produced a few years ago, and Truffaut's films. Maybe for me, an American, it is easier to understand the formed story."

Ronald expressed his attitude softly but firmly, you are right, I just don't like that "Under the Sun of Satan". Besides, I'm not the only one who feels sleepy after watching it. Your guests from the country of hair also protested that the movie was too boring.

Then he emphasized that I still like the directors and actors of the country of hair, but I don’t like this kind of pretentious, profound concepts such as religion, the devil, and human nature, but it’s not good to watch.

“You said you like Truffaut’s movies, do you only like his movies that are invested by capital? You don’t like the left-wing movies made by Godard, a new wave film director like him, without capital participation, just for the people?”

“Oh…” Ronald raised his eyebrows, why did such a reporter come.

Ronald quietly flipped through the business card on the table, it was a left-wing national newspaper, Humanité. Looking at the stubborn eyes, Ronald knew that he must have met that kind of paranoid reporter.

“Compared to Godard, I do like Truffaut more.”

Since the other party came up and said with prejudice that he was a capital film and Hollywood director, then just admit it.

Except for his debut work “Breathless”, Godard’s later films often did not even have scripts, and let the actors perform automatically throughout the whole process.

This year, he filmed "King Lear", except that the name is somewhat related to Shakespeare, the plot is completely incomprehensible. Molly Ringwald, the teenage goddess of Hollywood, completely lost her spirit in his hands and acted very poorly, which confused Ringwald herself.

"I think Mr. Truffaut's path is to make movies for the audience, not for government funding and awards. I have always practiced his teachings in this way."

Anyway, Truffaut was just awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Cannes posthumously this year. I used his ideas to fight back against Godard's unhealthy filming concept, and I couldn't find anything wrong with it.

"Can you only make movies for Hollywood capitalists?" The reporter continued to insist.

"Okay, time is up, so stop it." Richard came to intervene and asked the reporter from L'Humanité to leave.

"The Chinese are really strange. They don't like the movies themselves, but these people praise them to a high position." Ronald complained to Richard.

"Besides, I raised funds for Dirty Dancing myself. In principle, I am not a director working for capitalists. I am a capitalist myself."

"Hahaha, forget it, Ronald. There are many left-wing people like this in the United States. Their film market is protected by the government. After the project is established, there are high government subsidies. Finally, the government-led César Awards determine the future direction of subsidies. There are indeed many deep wells of ice."

Ronald also smiled, "Fortunately, Cannes is judged by the judges, unlike the César Awards, which are awarded by the government of the United States."

...

"Hollywood directors are talking nonsense, believing that only movies that please the audience are good movies. The audience needs to be guided. They cannot be satisfied with superficial satisfaction. Instead, they should make some movies that require them to think before they can understand, so as to improve the overall quality of the nation."

The next day, Ronald and Richard packed their bags and prepared to return home. The newly published "Humanité" criticized their own ideas without naming them. At the same time, they praised the "Under the Sun of Satan" by the British director Maurice Pialat.

"Actually, what he said makes sense, but if the audience thinks too much, they will be distracted and stop watching your movie. For a movie, you can only let them stop and think three to five times, one second each time. More than that is a disaster."

Ronald laughed while looking at the newspaper. These Chinese people are out of touch with the market and the audience. They rely on the César Awards and the comments of a small circle. Some of their views are really delusional without practical experience.

More than ten hours later, the plane stopped at Los Angeles International Airport. Ronald yawned and came out, and went to meet Little Bud who came to pick him up with Richard.

"The Grand Prize of the Cannes Film Festival was announced. The Chinese director Maurice Pialat's "Under the Sun of Satan" won the Palme d'Or in a very controversial way. It is reported that when the movie was shown, most of the audience expressed protest at the end."

At the luggage carousel at the airport, Ronald looked up at the TV news. When he found the local entertainment news, Ronald heard unexpected news.

"No way, just for his 40th birthday, he gave the Palme d'Or to that movie?" Ronald looked carefully.

"Hey, are you from the United States? Is that movie good?" A passenger who was waiting for his luggage nearby was also a movie fan. Seeing that Ronald was also interested in Cannes, he asked him what the movie that won the Palme d'Or was like.

"It doesn't really look like a movie. Hypnosis is good." Ronald put on his sunglasses and left the airport.

In the following days, the film industry talked a lot about this controversial award. The chairman of the jury, Yves Montand, is a good friend of the grand prize director Maurice Pialat and has starred in a movie together before. Rumor has it that it was his insistence that Maurice Pialat won the award.

It is reported that some Hollywood people have criticized Yves Montand's chairmanship of the jury.

The film industry in the United States and even Europe has launched a discussion on this award. Such a movie that was disliked by the audience, but because of the love of people in the circle, it actually defeated all other competitors and won the grand prize.

Should movies be made for the audience or for some people in the circle? Film reviews and comments in newspapers have been fighting for a long time.

In the end, this debate has also caused a big split among the general public.

Because this year's Cannes was relatively fair, this award returned to the hands of the director of the British, so the British President Francois made a special speech to congratulate him.

In last year's parliamentary election, Francois's Socialist Party lost. The right wing won the majority in parliament and elected Jacques to be the prime minister.

The political situation in the British has been divided as the president and the prime minister actually belong to the left and right factions. The two sides are competing for votes on everything.

After Francois expressed his position, Prime Minister Jacques expressed a different opinion. In an interview, he said that "Under the Sun of Satan" has too many negative contents against the church, which makes the audience think for too long.

Jacques finally joked that if he went to the movies with his wife and daughter, he would not choose Under the Sun of Satan, but would rather watch a relaxing dance movie like Dirty Dancing. He could spend a wonderful night with his two daughters watching a movie that values ​​family values.

"Hey, can we save this clip and put it on our movie poster?" Ronald heard this interview and immediately thought of using him as the most authoritative audience evaluation.

"There is no big problem for us to use public news reports." Michel Cannold also came back from Cannes and was reporting on the release of "Dirty Dancing".

He immediately ordered his colleagues in the distribution department to excerpt the original text of Prime Minister Jacques. The French people all know that Prime Minister Jacques likes to watch movies, and he is well-informed and knows that "Dirty Dancing" is about the relationship between father and daughter. It seems that his public relations team deliberately chose a different image for him from Francois, which is very effective.

"Under the Sun of Satan is a masterpiece. Although it involves theology and rises to an amazing test of faith, the film has a thoroughly secular style.

This is one of the many factors that make it fascinating. This is a very subtle work, with a certain degree of difficulty and great grasp, which requires and deserves close attention. "

Ronald was in the office of Daydream, flipping through American newspapers, and found the Chicago Sun-Times' praise for him in the report on Cannes.

"I particularly admire the director's attitude towards authorial films and his persistence in his work. In the controversy after winning the Palme d'Or, he said the famous saying of film artists:

I know some people don't like me, and I want to tell them that I don't like you either."

Ronald was shocked and speechless when he saw the director's words. If he was scolded by the audience in Hollywood, he would probably not be able to get a director's job in the future.

"The Chinese are like this." Cannold is of French descent and understands this kind of thing. The Chinese always like to be unique.

"And this Chicago Sun-Times, how much money did Albert take from them to be so shameless to praise it?"

"This is a good thing, if he can take other people's money, he can take our money, and he can also praise Dirty Dancing hard. Our premiere has been decided to be in mid-July."