[US Entertainment] Kise's Hollywood Diary

Before the official shooting, the entire crew will undergo intensive and efficient gun training and other action guidance training in New York.For a country where guns are legal, it is not uncommon for citizens to shoot. Vincent also made police and gangster films in the last dimension, and he is already familiar with the skills and foundations required to play a policeman.However, each country has a different police system. Vincent still chose to find an opportunity to experience life in a local state police station in New York for a period of time.

Massachusetts can already be called Vincent's second "base" besides Los Angeles.However, because the production team "succumbed" to the tax incentives that the deduction amount was too actionable, they changed the plan and changed most of the shooting tasks to New York, and finally left the place that had to be filmed in Boston, Massachusetts. Will go there to shoot.

Although the arrangement has been changed, it has added a lot of convenience to the overall filming work of the crew.

It was not until late April that the movie officially started shooting.After Vincent shaved his hair into a square inch at the age of 4 and starred in "Sweet 17", he shaved his hair again after many years. His current image actually deviates from what Martin envisioned— ——Because Vincent needs to play the image of a seemingly perfect resume, impeccable personality and image, but he is actually an undercover agent placed by the gang in the police. This character is very contradictory.

If this face is too ordinary, it may give people a feeling of "why he can do it", how can it highlight the protagonist's "differentness"?

As far as the image and aura after changing costumes and makeup are concerned, Vincent's appearance in a student uniform with a gun looks more like a heart than Leonardo's. A man with a sense of justice.Simply put, it would be more appropriate if he put on a police uniform and became a policeman.As Martin Scorsese said, Colin, the gangster's undercover role buried in the police, belongs to Vincent.

Before Vincent, Martin also thought about who would be more suitable to play these two roles.This is the first time he has been preparing for a gangster movie in three years since he finished filming "Gangs of New York" in 2002. Although it is an adaptation copyright of a Hong Kong movie, it is different from the trilogy series of "Infernal Affairs". I intend to use the effort of a movie to explain a complete undercover story.

This means that the director team and the screenwriter team have a lot of pre-work to do. Adapting the script to recreate the remake is actually a job that is no less difficult than the original.We must know that although "Infernal Affairs" has only been released for more than two years and less than three years, its impact, word-of-mouth, and box office can be recorded in history.In addition, even if the cast of "Infernal Affairs" is a small supporting role, they are also well-known figures in the Hong Kong entertainment circle. It can be called a star-studded movie. of actors have expectations.

Before thinking of Leonardo and Vincent, Martin had better candidates in mind - Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

The former is the image of Billy that Martin first found. Although Brad Pitt participated in the production of "The Departed" as a producer, he himself rejected Mark's invitation.

The latter Matt Damon is already a very seasoned actor. He is four years older than Leonard, but he can integrate the three roles of actor, screenwriter, and director. Although there are no particularly outstanding screenwriters and directors. The work is well known, but his attempt looks good.As an actor, Matt Damon's work is enough to make people remember his abilities. Before the "Bourne Shadow" series became popular, Matt Damon already had the Lohan trilogy to lay the foundation for him.Since he was "electrically shocked" at the age of 1988 in 18, the films he has starred in and participated in the production of have not only been excellent works, at least they are all within the scope of good works.

Moreover, this actor with both acting skills and talents has also cooperated with Heath Ledger, although "Brothers Grimm" has not been officially released since it was filmed last year.

Of course, in Martin's opinion, such an initial idea is just a thought. Even if the supporting actress plays a very small role in the play, there are ideal candidates such as Kate Winslet and Hilary Swank who just won the actress. , Anyway, think about it and don't pay others for the film.

But in this way, not to mention whether it is possible to pay the salaries of these big names within sufficient production costs, but also to make their schedules available at the same time.Besides, if it is really an all-star cast, then the shock brought by the movie itself will be completely overshadowed by the shock brought by the cast.

Where is the difference between Leonardo and Vincent?If nothing else, let's just say that Brad Pitt won't have any doubts.One has just been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, and a young one is not only nominated for Best Actor, but also has an Olympic Award for Best Supporting Actor in his hand. More importantly, Martin has worked with both of them. Selfishly speaking , he will agree more with Leonardo and Vincent.

Vincent compared the three scripts together, one was the original version he got during the audition, the other was the modified version given by Martin when he visited the class last year, and the latest version was written by Frank himself before the filming and after the Oscars. The script that Martin took back.

Three versions of the script, one better than the other.

Although "Infernal Affairs" is a Hong Kong movie, it has a strong Chinese color in the final analysis-such as various puns, references, and some complex rhetoric in the words of the characters when they talk, as well as the delicate and graceful color in the details. Even in gangster movies, it can still be reflected.The overall style is calm, reserved and has a kind of enigmatic veil, which needs to be unveiled little by little.The connotation of the movie even has a hint of borrowing Buddhist scriptures to convey the unredeemed fate of the protagonists.

However, under the adaptation of Mark and screenwriters Brad, Gianni, and William, the slow pace of the original version was all accelerated, and the procrastinating plot was drastically revised. In addition to retaining a double undercover story frame, the entire script seems to have become A "pure blood" American gangster movie, with a typical American gangster style: rough and straightforward.

After all, the two countries have different national conditions and different appreciation styles.In detail, the director style and focus are different, and the types of actors used are also different. Except for an adaptation right, this can be called a gangster film with a new concept.

Martin Scorsese even hired Thomas B. Duffy, a retired detective who had worked in the Boston Police Department for 30 years, as a technical consultant for the entire film. The master of evidence collection, and the image of gangster Frank Costolo in the script of "The Departed" was shaped by the screenwriter based on Thomas' oral experience.Although Frank Castro in "Infernal Affairs" corresponds to the role of Han Chen, the triad leader, but after the screenwriter's transformation and polishing, the image of this gang leader has been Americanized, and it is more of a A ringleader that fits the American gangster background.

His original idea was to correct some of the minor flaws in the Hong Kong version of "Infernal Affairs" in his own film, such as the image of the boss being too "squeaky", the portrayal of supporting roles other than the protagonist being too vague, and the rhythm The rhythm of the slow critical moment can't keep up with the speed of the plot, as if you are on the verge of orgasm when you are making love, but you still can't reach the g-spot at the last moment, which makes people uncomfortable.

After discussing with the screenwriter team, Martin decided to deepen the portrayal of the two protagonists' character deviations, including the fate of the two people, and the process and result of self-salvation but both failed to reprocess.In his opinion, the Hong Kong version of "Infernal Affairs" has already shown a tendency for some supporting roles to overwhelm the protagonists. If the two protagonists can't suppress the light of the supporting roles and stand out, it is absolutely blind. An excellent setting for double obvious double dark lines and four parallel lines.

If you want to ask who in Hollywood is best at gangster movies, Martin Scorsese may be one of them; but if you want to ask who loves gangster movies the most, it is definitely Martin Scorsese.Although he is equally serious about movies no matter what themes are, this is the second time Vincent has worked with Martin, and he can obviously feel the difference in his attitude and methods.

When Martin decided to direct "To Cover Up", how many people said that he was "abandoning himself" and that Lionsgate was "overqualified", but after the Oscars, they all shut their mouths as if nothing had happened.

Not to mention Leonardo's third collaboration with Martin - "Gangs of New York" in 2002, "The Aviator" released at the end of last year, a gangster film, a plot biopic, although both are He failed to win the trophy at the last minute, but no one questioned whether Martin Scorsese's director talent had "sunset", and he was still the unyielding Martin.

For Vincent and Leonardo, they are already quite accustomed to Martin's shooting rhythm and shooting style, but they still feel that they are about to collapse due to Mr. Director's stubbornness and excessive pursuit of perfection at certain times.

Because Martin's "The Aviator" last year was originally an Olympic film he was full of ambitions, but in the end he just embarrassingly won some "irrelevant" technical awards, only a little bit for Best Supporting Actress and Best Editing portion.And now "The Departed" is the painstaking effort of him and the screenwriting team to adapt the script and plan the shooting in advance for nearly two years. He doesn't want to leave any regrets in the gangster movies that he is best at and loves the most.

Except for the two young actors Leonardo and Vincent, none of the other main characters in the crew were "shabby": whether it was Jack Nicholson who played Frank Castro or the old police officer. Martin Sheen, or any of the supporting actors, is one of the most famous figures in the circle of Hollywood actors.They may not be well-known in the eyes of the public, but as an actor, it is also a very capable thing to be remembered by non-actor filmmakers such as actors, directors, screenwriters, and producers, and to leave a good reputation .

At present, the main shooting locations of the film are concentrated in New York, and even changing the shooting location can't change Martin's determination to let some important plots be shot in Boston-he doesn't like some changes beyond his expectations.Just like when filming "To Cover Up", repeating "ng" over and over again can certainly improve the quality of the shooting and the effect of the finished product, but at the same time, Martin will use the rest time of the actors to compensate for the time deducted from ng—that is, in any case, How many tasks have been set today, and all of them must be completed!

This is not a small challenge, especially for gangster movies with more action and gunfight scenes, it is even more difficult.When it's not Vincent's turn to play, he mostly recites his lines repeatedly and writes about character understanding.Although it is a double starring movie, in fact the intersection of Colin and Billy in the play is concentrated at the last point, although the fate of the two people is intertwined throughout the whole process.

The scene of the confrontation between Colin and Billy on the rooftop is the most quintessential part of the film in the Hong Kong version of "Infernal Affairs". It is rough and not casual, straightforward and not direct.Martin has parts with foreshadowing, and parts that are frankly explained to make people frightened. His "The Departed Walker" is more undulating and interlaced with light and shadow.

Mark Wahlberg was the first to hit Martin's muzzle on the first day of the start.

"No, Mark, your swear words are not fluent enough, I'll give you 10 minutes to practice."