From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

The situation was very interesting, a bit absurd, but wonderfully, it always had a lighthearted atmosphere.

On one side, the headmaster was telling the Abagnale couple about the seriousness of the matter.

On the other side, Paula Abagnale couldn't believe her ears and turned to look outside the office—

Little Frank was sitting in a chair, biting his nails, looking serious, as if it was the most important thing in the world.

Inadvertently, Little Frank raised his eyes and saw Paula's gaze, revealing a grinning smile.

However, Paula was expressionless.

Little Frank realized the tension in the atmosphere and quickly retracted his smile, avoiding eye contact, secretly raising his eyes, but immediately met his mother's eyes again, and hurriedly lowered his gaze, staring at an ant on the ground like a good boy, his side face without completely lowering his head revealing an innocent expression.

This scene caused a low chuckle to ripple through the screening room.

Melvin was a little surprised: This shouldn't be a comedic scene, right?

But after a slight pause, Melvin realized that the corners of his mouth were also slightly raised. Even though it wasn't a comedic scene, who could resist Anson?

The current Anson was completely different from "The Princess Diaries" and "Spider-Man." He had a bit of mischievous childishness, but also a hint of precocious sadness and sophistication. Even though his family had undergone sudden changes, and his school and life had been turned upside down, he silently went through those storms without ever revealing any fragility, only using his own way to fight back.

In a daze, the images of Little Frank and Anson overlapped—

The audience had never seen Anson's mischievous side in private. This should be the first time.

Inside the office, the Abagnale couple were being reprimanded; outside the office, Little Frank didn't know that he was in big trouble.

Just for a moment of being well-behaved, a girl came to the academic affairs office, standing right next to Little Frank, preparing to ask for leave.

"Miss Davenport, I have a leave note. I can't attend the fifth and sixth periods because I have a doctor's appointment."

At this time, the phone kept ringing. Miss Davenport gestured to wait a moment; she needed to answer the phone first.

It was during this brief gap that Little Frank couldn't stay quiet.

"Hey."

"Hey!"

After calling out twice, he finally attracted the girl's attention.

"When your mom hands you a leave note, the first thing you do is fold it up and put it in your pocket."

"If this is real, then where are the creases?"

Little Frank raised his eyes and glanced at the girl. After speaking freely, he became slightly shy and restrained, quickly lowering his head and retracting his gaze.

The girl paused slightly, secretly looked around, turned her back to Miss Davenport, nonchalantly folded the leave note in half and then in half again, pressing hard on the creases.

Then, Little Frank looked up again.

The boy and girl exchanged a look, revealing a tacit smile.

Snap.

The door of the headmaster's office opened, and Paula Abagnale entered while adjusting her gloves, paused slightly at the door, and gave her son a meaningful glare; but she found Little Frank slumped lazily in the chair, frowned, and gave Little Frank a stern glare.

"Frank."

Paula called out.

Little Frank lowered his head, quickly sat up straight, twisted his fingers nervously, dared not look up, but could feel Old Frank's gaze following closely behind.

Little Frank timidly grabbed his schoolbag, shrinking his shoulders and drooping his head, like a sad Abruzzese, secretly scanning his father's expression with the corner of his eye.

Expressionless.

Little Frank was a little surprised. There was no anger, no seriousness, no indifference, only calmness, no special expression, which made him look at his father a few more times.

As a result, accidentally, their eyes met.

Little Frank was stunned.

Old Frank smiled, and Little Frank smiled too.

Things didn't seem so bad after all.

Unfortunately.

This was just temporary.

Just when Little Frank thought his life was slowly getting back on track, the cruelty of reality still came crashing down like a storm, leaving no room to breathe.

Little Frank began to feel uneasy—

He noticed some men "coming to visit his father smoothly." They were all his father's friends; but his father was never home, and his mother entertained the guests in the bedroom. He could even see their coats on the living room sofa, and they always looked at him meaningfully, giving him some gifts or pocket money.

He didn't like it.

Things quickly slid into the abyss.

Lawyers appeared, a grandmother he had never met appeared, his father sat silently in the corner, and his mother eagerly asked him to sign a document, filling in his father's or mother's name in an important position.

He didn't understand what was happening.

Until the word "divorce" appeared in the conversation, he was stunned. He turned to look at his father, asking for an explanation, a response, but his father's silence pushed him into a bottomless abyss.

At that moment, in those clear and deep blue eyes, one could clearly see the process of a world collapsing. He didn't want to cry, but tears still blurred his vision, yet he couldn't cry out. He didn't feel sadness or pain, only confusion and helplessness, falling from a high altitude.

Run.

Running wildly.

Escaping from here with all his strength, escaping from life, escaping from reality.

Little Frank ran away, ran away from home, without a destination, any place would do as long as it wasn't here.

The entire screening room fell silent, not a sound could be heard, even holding their breath—

Because they saw the collapse of a child's world in those eyes.

Even more so because they did not anticipate the sudden turn of events in the story. A storm washed away Little Frank's world and swept the story in another direction.

However.

Steven Spielberg once again demonstrated his ability to control the rhythm. The camera turned.

1969, Paris, France.

Time returned to the present, with Carl in charge of escorting Little Frank back to North America.

Little Frank tried to persuade Carl to change to a better room, but Carl said that the budget was limited and he couldn't do anything. Little Frank lowered his eyes and became dejected again.

"It's okay, I've stayed in worse."

At this time, the audience suddenly reacted, oh right, how did they forget, this is a crime movie, adapted from a true story.

So, does this mean—

That the moment Little Frank ran away from home was also the turning point when he embarked on a path of crime?

Involuntarily, Melvin thought of the fake TV show at the beginning of the movie, the answer given by contestant number one:

Dollars and cents, that's where it all begins.