Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Raging Bull" was released, and Martin Scorsese asked his teaching assistant to give everyone movie tickets in class. "I'm sorry that I missed a lot of classes this year because of this movie. Please tell me what you think after watching it." how?"

In order to catch up with this year's Oscar selection and make up the required screening time to participate in the awards, "Raging Bull" was released in art theaters nationwide in the last two weeks of 1980.

"Is it good?" Ronald asked Leon and Spike Lee, who had already gone to see it. The three students named Li hit it off immediately and always sat together to discuss movies.

"An art classic, this is probably Scorsese and Bobby De Niro's best movie," Spike said.

"Yes, it tells the life of Italian-born boxing champion Jake LaMotta. The boxing scenes were shot very wonderfully, and the camera scheduling is unparalleled. It may be the best boxing scene in history." When talking about the movie, Li Ang also speaks English. He got a little better and spoke longer sentences.

"Oh?" Ronald raised his eyebrows, that was something he couldn't miss. "I want to take my cousin to see everything you mentioned."

"That might not be a good fit."

"Why? Because it's an R-rated movie?"

"Not only is the boxing scene a bit gory, but it's in black and white, which kids won't like."

Black and white film? Ronald thought to himself, Scorsese really knows how to play.

"Ronald, this may really be my swan voice. It will be difficult for me to make movies in Hollywood after that. I plan to go to Italy with Isabella later. There are some people in Europe who like my movies. Maybe I I can also apply for government funding and make some art films.”

When Scorsese saw Ronald who came specifically to express his gratitude, he felt emotional and said a few more words to him.

"I've been writing the script for the past six weeks and haven't seen your work yet, Marty. Why are you so pessimistic? But I hear a lot of New York film critics swearing to say good things about your new film."

"United Arts spent nothing on marketing the movie, Ronald. They were going through a change at the top. President Andy Albeck was fired from the parent company and replaced by an accountant from the parent company, Pan American, who only knew Settlement of accounts.

This time Raging Bull can only be shown in 180 art theaters. If it cannot win some Oscars, the total box office will not be very good.

And there are rumors in the industry that Pan American, the parent company of United Art, intends to sell United Art as a whole. The last major artist-led studio in Hollywood is about to... ugh.

"

“Why, because Heaven’s Gate failed at the box office?

“The production cost was 44 million, and the box office was less than 1 million after being released for more than a month.

Pan Am has long been dissatisfied with the management of United Artists, especially the two films "Midnight Cowboy" and "Barry's Last Tango". Despite Pan Am's objections, United Artists insisted on not cutting the controversial scenes, which were rated x-rated by the MPAA. .

After that, Pan American removed the words "Pan American Corporation" from the title of United Artists, and fired several executives who adhered to artistic principles, and they went to establish a new company, Orion Pictures.

Although CEO Andy Albeck is ridiculed as a salesman, United Artists under his leadership last year produced four films: Rocky 2, Space City, Manhattan, and The Dark Knight, all of which achieved box office success. , but who knew that Cimino could shoot "Heaven's Gate" with an original budget of 6 million and overspend so much?

Pan Am has long since given up on the idea of ​​using United Artists for publicity. The failure of Heaven’s Gate made them completely lose their patience..."

"If Hollywood has taught me anything? It's that you have to keep making money to stay in this industry. I've made two movies in a row without making money, and it's hard to convince producers to invest in my movies." Scorsese concluded. arrive.

"Hey, it's all caused by Heaven's Gate..." Ronald sighed.

The three-hour and forty-minute "Heaven's Gate" received rave reviews after its release, especially Vincent Canby, a senior film critic of the New York Times, who compared it to "being forced to walk in circles for four hours in your own living room." Hours", even viciously said that fat boy Michael Cimino sold his soul to the devil Mephisto in "The Deer Hunter" and now Mephisto is coming to collect the debt.

Of course, Ronald didn't think the film critics were right. Although Heaven's Gate was terrible, The Deer Hunter was not that good and was not worthy of the "sell your soul for" evaluation.

"Yeah, did you know? United Artists is withdrawing the release of 'Heaven's Gate' and re-editing it."

"Ah? What kind of operation is this?"

"Michael Cimino published a signed letter in the newspaper requesting that United Artists allow him to withdraw the three hour and forty minute version, re-edit it to two and a half hours, and re-release it next year."

"So United Artists agreed?" Ronald thought for a while and felt that it was a bit stupid for United Artists to agree to withdraw the already released movie. The newly appointed president may not be familiar with movies, which will only lead to more fierce criticism from film critics, "Look, we were right. The director admitted his mistake and needs to re-edit. Then they will pounce even more fiercely."

"What else? If not, Michael Cimino would have even more reason to say that United Artists ruined his movie. After all, he is the Oscar winner for Best Director."

Ronald thought of Martin Scorsese in front of him, who had not yet been nominated for an Oscar for Best Director. His "Taxi Driver" was critically acclaimed, earning a Golden Globe and Directors Guild nomination for best director, but no Oscar nominations.

"But Cimino's film is difficult to edit, isn't it?" Ronald said.

Michael Cimino is the kind of director who is good at creating atmosphere. It is difficult to edit out excess film in his movies. It seems that cutting out any section is wrong and can only retain a lengthy narrative.

"This is where he is smart. Directors and artists in the film industry are always suppressed by producers and forced to cut their films short. Cimino took advantage of this. Now some people in the film industry are talking about whether the United Nations The new president of The Arts forced Cimino to cut the film by a third.”

"He obviously asked for it himself. This fat boy is very cunning in what he does." Ronald thought to himself.

"I see you have also been nominated for Best Director by the Golden Globe Awards. Marty, will you go to the awards dinner then?"

"I won't go, Bobby De Niro is pursuing the Best Actor award this awards season, and I have little chance, and United Artists' financial situation makes it impossible for me to do anything in the awards season.

You know the tradition of the Golden Globe Awards. They like celebrities to be present. This year there will be a directorial debut of the big star Robert Redford. He will definitely go, so there is no need for me to go..."

"By the way, why did you say so? Ronald. Was your screenplay also nominated?" Scorsese reacted and asked Ronald if he had also been nominated.

"No, it's the best original song. I'm the lyricist. I want to gain some knowledge." Ronald chuckled.

"Good luck to you, young man."

The next day, Ronald went to the cinema to see "Raging Bull." As expected, this black-and-white film was shot very powerfully, and the black-and-white light and shadow are used wonderfully. Especially Jake LaMotta's last fight in the ring at the end.

Scorsese used magic-like light and shadow to show the strength of the boxing champion's opponent very powerfully. When the opponent is approaching, light and shadow suddenly cover it, giving people a great sense of oppression. The audience seemed to be immersed in the boxing ring, facing the black boxer with exploding muscles.

This kind of scene also fully expresses the feeling of the hero of the faded boxing champion Jake LaMotta.

The entire film is in black and white, except for the images shot by Jake LaMotta himself with a home camera, which are in color. This part of the family warmth has a very documentary quality.

Contrary to usual treatment, the narrative portion of the film is in black and white, while the referenced "mockumentary" style footage is in color.

Ronald didn’t know why Scorsese handled it this way. Maybe it was because Scorsese wanted to make a classic black and white film like Old Hollywood?

The photography quality of this movie is not inferior to those of old Hollywood classics. Ronald is a photographer himself, and he knows that black-and-white photography and color photography can be regarded as almost two kinds of art. Black-and-white photography only has one variable: grayscale, which relies entirely on light and shadow to create image effects and convey emotions to the audience.

Among directors of this generation, only Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich, who was involved in the murder of female model Stratten some time ago, can also direct black and white films.

It just so happens that these two people are also loyal fans of old Hollywood movies. Scorsese teaches classic film appreciation at New York University, and Bogdanovich also interviewed a series of old Hollywood directors and earned a lot of royalties from publishing books.

Only fans can shoot black and white films, a lost art in Hollywood.

The entertainment media, while praising Raging Bull, continues to attack Heaven's Gate.

Ronald turned on the TV and watched the entertainment news. There are interviews with passers-by and viewers.

"The music is good and the cinematography is top-notch, but the story is just terrible."

"I can't understand what the director is telling me. It's a terrible movie."

"I felt like the movie needed a good edit, to be honest."

Finally, a beautiful woman was interviewed, "I think the movie is too long and too boring. I feel like I'm going to fall asleep halfway through the movie."

"Look, it has nothing to do with me at all. It's just that Cimino's photography was so bad that he fell asleep." When Ronald saw this, he shouted at Donna and Diane Lane.

The two little girls fell down on the sofa with giggles. They had both heard that the nickname "Sleepy Lo" came from because they yawned during interviews while watching Michael Cimino's movies.

"Raging Bull, with a box office of 649,000 this weekend, ranked fourth, with an average box office of 3,600 US dollars per theater, and the total box office so far is 1.51 million..."

"Hey, have TV stations started reporting the box office rankings of movies now?" Ronald found two newspapers, The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety Show, from the table. Sure enough, the newspaper also opened a column listing the weekly box office and total box office of the movie.

"Is this putting directors in a boxing ring and letting them fight each other?" Ronald didn't like this approach very much.

"I think it's great. Film critics always don't tell the truth. I'd rather look at the box office numbers before deciding which movie to watch. That way I won't be easily deceived." Aunt Karen said. She was tidying up the living room, New Year's Day was coming soon.

The film review columns in the New York media all gave Marty "Raging Bull" high praise. Ronald glanced at several newspapers.

The New York Film Critics Circle awards announcement gave Raging Bull a high rating, a bellwether for the Oscars.

At the upcoming New York Film Critics Circle Film Awards, Martin Scorsese was nominated for Best Director, Robert De Niro was nominated for Best Actor, and Joe Pesci was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

These film critic circle awards, as well as the Directors Guild Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards, will be awarded one after another from now until the Oscar nominations are announced.

The judges for these awards are highly overlapped with the judges for the Oscars, so they serve as a benchmark. It looks like "Raging Bull" has a good chance of being nominated for an Academy Award, or even winning.

Moreover, Scorsese and the two actors are both of Italian descent, and Italians are now very influential in the film industry. Thanks to Francis Coppola's The Godfather Part 1 and Part 2, films reflecting the lives of Italians have been a hit, and Italians' influence in the film industry is growing.

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