King of Hollywood

Chapter 312 The Beautiful Legend of Sicily

The Thanksgiving file has passed, but the Christmas file is coming again. In addition, Spider-Man's rapid growth momentum has begun to slow down, so the box office competition is still fierce. The nineteenth film of the legendary agent James Bond: The Dark Day!

The role that should make Sophie's popularity in Hollywood reach a high level, but she had to give up because of Adrian's big belly, and then Zeta Jones got it under Adrian's recommendation. M Although this film has nothing to do with him from production to investment, with Adrian's current fame and status, it is very simple to recommend an actor. Anyway, Bang Lang is basically a bottle, and he can still buy face from Miracle Director, so why not do it?

Zeta Jones' performance is no worse than Sophie's. They each have their own sensuality and enchantment, and Adrian knows this all too well. In comparison, the protagonist played by Zeta Jones is more sensual, and at the same time, he also highlights the viciousness, fully interpreting the meaning of femme fatale. Although the Sophie in my memory is also very good, she is indeed a bit weak in this aspect, but her melancholy temperament makes people not hate her, even if she has done too many bad things.

"That's the difference," Adrian, who attended the premiere of The Dark One, said after watching the film, before celebrating Zeta-Jones.

Of course, there are also similarities, the villain Bang Lang is still the best Bang Lang, and I have to say that Denise Richards is indeed one of the worst Bang Lang. Film critics praised Zeta-Jones a lot, and Brosnan also praised a lot, but Richards was pitifully seldom praised. The New York Post even called Black Sun Crisis the worst 007 movie in 25 years.

But this does not extinguish the enthusiasm of moviegoers. The 007 series has cultivated a large number of loyal moviegoers over the past decades, plus the quality of the movie is not really bad, and there is the gimmick of the first Banglang who died under Bond's gun. So immediately after its release, it topped the North American weekend box office list.

Even so, The Black Sun Crisis failed to exceed 100 million in three days like Spiderman, so even if it continues to be shown, it cannot prevent other film companies from taking a share of the market, and Notting Hill was released at this time.

As the last part of Julia Roberts' love five-part series, which has been made into an American icon by Adrian in advance - of course, this is the name between Adrian and Julia, and the public is still talking about Julie. Ya's another romantic comedy masterpiece - Notting Hill has received a lot of attention since the filming started, not to mention there are many gimmicks, such as big stars playing big stars, or the fairy tale love between big stars and little people, but the most attractive What caught the eye was Julia's 20 million paycheck.

This is the first actor to enter the 20 million club. You must know that there are not many male actors who can get such a high salary, and because of their inherent disadvantages, this does not mean that the 20 million club is open to them. A thing worth mentioning. More importantly, although the film crew gave 20 million as a film salary, it is still unknown whether Julia is worth so much. If Notting Hill's box office suffers, even if she enters the 20 million club, she will have to quit immediately , so many people are waiting to see a good show.

"Let them wait and see." Adrian, who attended the premiere with Julia on his arm, said to his people.

Inspirational stories are always popular, especially inspirational stories that are close to life, and this is the type of small people hugging big stars. Even though the possibility of this happening in reality is very small, there are still many people who like to read it. Not to mention, Adrian also has a cameo in it, the self-interested producer boyfriend of the film's star Anna.

The character in the original version is also an actor, but since it is Adrian's cameo, of course it should be replaced by a producer. Although it only appeared for a few minutes, when it came out, those guests who knew him and came to the premiere were full of enthusiasm. The curious voice exclaimed a few words in a low voice, and even Julia who was sitting beside him couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"It seems that I acted very well, Julie, I can actually make you so happy. {hand, hit {{bar}" Adrian said jokingly, but what he got was Julia's eyes.

Frankly speaking, his performance is actually very good. Adrian has always made guest appearances in his own movies, which is different from Stan Lee's guest appearances where he completely uses himself as a live prop-this time Stan? The cameo in Spider-Man was not cut, and he played an old man that Spider-Man walked past--Adrian's cameo is very important. For example, the man who listened to Forrest Gump on the bench in Forrest Gump, or the boss who warned Andrew’s Neo in The Matrix, his acting skills have also improved relatively, fully showing the frivolous appearance of the producer out.

"You're just playing yourself." Julia then said to him semi-sarcastically, and of course, she paid the price later.

It was a great stunt, the affair between Adrian and Julia was already well known and attended the premiere with Julia on his arm that night despite numerous reporters and cameras on the red carpet They still avoided answering certain questions, but it was clearly written on their faces: Yes, we are related, but we just don’t admit it.

So when watching this passage, most people will feel happy and excited, especially Hugh Grant's reputation is far from "used to be" so high, and the audience unknowingly represented the true identities of the three of them. went in. And then the tabloids got wind of it and made up a whole lot of emotional entanglement between Grant, Julia and Adrian during the filming of Notting Hill.

Although I dare not make too much of it, there are some things that everyone can see. If you write a few sentences based on this, even a media tycoon won't care, right?

Of course Adrian doesn't care, it's tantamount to giving Notting Hill another free advertisement, and such a few plots won't affect anything, most of the film critics gave high marks, and the media's Rotten Tomatoes website even scored 84 The Chicago Tribune thought the film was cheerful and the dialogue was full of wisdom, while the Los Angeles Times said that Julia and Grant matched well in the film.

Although the box office in the first week seems to be sorry for these reviews, only about 26 million, but this is just the beginning. Which romantic comedy of Julia is not a steady flow? It will be a matter of time before North America exceeds 100 million.

"Look, everything is going according to plan, my dear, and I will direct for you next year, are you ready?" Adrian said to Julia triumphantly.

Of course, that is all for next year, even if next year is half a month away at most, I still want to release this year's long-prepared movie.

Naturally, this movie is The Beautiful Legend of Sicily, which was fully and meticulously revised by Adrian for Monica to hit the Oscars. It is really not a good time for such a literary and artistic work to be released in December, although there are many literary and artistic works. Movies like this are selected to be released at this time, but they all have a certain box office foundation.

For example, American Beauty, although it can be regarded as a literary film, tells the story of the American middle class, which can resonate with many people. As long as you watch it, you will gradually be attracted. Although the beautiful legend of Sicily was produced by director Miracle, it tells the story of Italians after all. Even if the plot is improved by him and a lot of stories are added, this fact cannot be changed.

When a film is produced, it will either go for the box office or go for awards. Even those artistic fundamentalist directors in Europe who don’t dare to shoot without any subject matter want to be recognized by countless people even if they make something. A look that doesn't need to be affirmed by others.

But the awards are not so easy to win. I won’t go into details about them. If you can’t get the awards and don’t have the most basic box office, then go to Europe to be a maverick at best, or sensationalist at worst. .

However, literary and artistic films want to compete for Oscars, but they have to strive to be released at the end of the year, so that their names will continue to ring in the ears of the judges, so what should we do? There are two ways. One is to release it at the end of October and early November, avoiding the hot schedule of Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year; the other is to select the screening at the end of December to qualify for the competition, and then wait until this period of time has passed before it will be fully released.

Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and how to choose depends on the producer. In fact, Adrian hopes that the beautiful legend of Sicily will be released in late October, so that he has enough time to slowly influence, but who made him spend most of the year in New Zealand making Lord of the Rings? Therefore, although the filming of The Beautiful Legend of Sicily was completed last year, it was not until the end of 1999 that the post-production was completed. In the end, we had to choose the second option.

It's okay, it's just a little troublesome, and it's not a big deal. Of course, there won't be any premieres or anything.

"Look, this place is full of people, and they all obviously think this movie is worth watching." Sitting in the movie theater, Adrian and Monica, who was recovering well after giving birth, whispered.

In any case, this is the work of director Miracle, and it is the first film he has personally produced in the past year, and it is only shown in one cinema, so it is naturally full of people.

On the big screen, more than a third of the plot had passed. The cameraman selected at the beginning did a really good job and fully met Adrian’s requirements. Although Monica didn’t appear in many shots, but in his bones The feelings and amorous feelings of the protagonist are fully displayed, especially the real Marlena and the fantasy Marlene in the hero's mind are completely different.

In reality, Malena is dignified in her senses. Even if the boys follow her and whistle loudly, even if she is walked on the street and is watched by many men, she can still walk calmly on the street, which is unbearable to be violated. At the same time, he wanted to rape her. But in the hero's fantasy, Marlena's feelings are endlessly provocative, as if she is calling the other party to come quickly.

This creates a strong contrast and is impressive. But if you think that's it, you're wrong. Soon, Adrian designed one of the four most classic shots related to Marlena for the whole movie.

Because her husband went to the battlefield and there was no news, some men began to harass her, and those people in the town were jealous and hated her, so they sued her to court for seducing her husband. No lawyer was willing to defend her, except for a bad old man whose defense was that it happened because Marina was so beautiful, and beauty is innocent. The court accepted this explanation and declared Malena innocent, and then this wretched old man took possession of Malena that night.

When she sat in the middle of the courtroom, her eyelids were drooped, and although she tried to look calm, the unspeakable sadness welling up in the corners of her eyes was very pitiful.

But it was only the beginning, and then the situation became worse and worse. When the news of her husband's death came, the old father severed ties with her, and then died in an air raid. Marlena lost all sources of income. If she wanted to live, there was only one thing in front of her. road.

This is another classic shot, and it is also the most proud modification made by Adrian for this movie. It was ng countless times when it was shot.

Malena who made the decision sat in front of the sewing machine and sewed the clothes bit by bit, the corners of her mouth trembling slightly, with rejection and unspeakable sorrow in her eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks silently, one, Two, she loves her husband deeply, and she has always believed that he will come back, but now she has to take the initiative to do something sorry for him.

Monica, who has been ng here countless times and even got into an argument with Adrian, interpreted this shot almost perfectly. The close-up of the tears falling down her cheeks had a strong appeal, not only the sound in the auditorium With a low sigh, even Monica sitting next to Adrian couldn't help but hold his hand tightly, her eyes locked on the big screen, her mouth heaving.

Adrian patted her hand comfortingly, and then let out a sigh of relief in his heart. It was very correct to let Monica perform completely with her body.

When Malena with heavy make-up appeared in the town square, she sat down and just took out a cigarette, countless lighters were stretched out from the hands of various men in front of her. The male protagonist Renaldo, who was paying attention to Marlena, felt the sadness in her heart, but unfortunately he couldn't do anything, he could only watch her circle around those men, and finally got into the German car.

Even though he was also overwhelmed by Horror, even though he also had the same sympathy for Marlena in his heart, and therefore peeped into her life and stole her intimate clothing, he was far more real, pure and beautiful than those people. Even if his father had no choice but to take him to the hospital and release him in this way, he still chose a plump one and imagined her as Marlena.

Even here, Adrian still didn't show some fragments in the movie. He doesn't need to be as straightforward as European directors, and the straightforwardness is not at all. The subtlety is the most attractive place. Of course, a technique was used here. Another actor was filming, and then Monica's face was dug out with a computer in post-production and pasted on her.

Then, the US military came, and the third classic shot was also presented to the audience. The jealous people in the town dragged Marlena out of the room immediately after the arrival of the U.S. Army, beat her, abused her, tore her clothes, cut her hair, They forgot all the pain she had suffered, and they only wanted to vent their jealous rage.

The quick cuts and shaky shots made all this more real. Malena, naked and with her hair cut off, curled up on the ground screaming in despair, making it unbearable to watch.

In the end, she was kicked out by the townspeople, and boarded the distant train numbly like a walking dead, but these still fell into the eyes of the young man Renaldo.

Here, the plot turns again. Marlena's husband, Li Nuo, actually came back. Although he had a broken arm, he did come back alive. When he was looking for his wife, he was laughed at loudly. Renaldo, who has always been a bystander, finally did what he should do. He told Li Nuo the whereabouts of Marlena in a hidden way, and told him that his wife loved him no matter how much pain he suffered. .

Finally, the end came. One morning, Li Nuo and Marlena walked quietly through the town square, not paying attention to other people's eyes, and tightly grasped his wife's hand, while Marlena also leaned her head against her husband's. On his shoulders, turning a blind eye to the astonished people around them, the quiet appearance of the two made people feel emotional, and the screening hall couldn't help but burst into low applause.

The last classic scene came. Marlena, who lived in her own house and restored her peaceful life, came to the market to buy things. Even though she was no longer pretty, fat, and had wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, they still refused to talk to her, and whispered as before, until Marlena took the initiative to greet her: "Good morning."

This is the first time in the movie that Marlena uttered clear lines. The close-up shot was aimed at her face for a long time. There was no sadness or resentment, only the plainness smoothed by the years. In an instant, the air became alive, and the girls greeted her one after another, she has become like them...

On the way back, Marlena’s bag was torn, and the oranges fell on the ground. Renardo stepped forward to help her pick it up, but he never said a word. He just watched her leaving back quietly. No official presence in Malena's life.

The beautiful legend of Sicily came to an end completely. After the subtitles, the lights in the projection hall were turned on, and there was a silence of about five or six seconds, followed by loud applause.

People who can watch an art movie in this schedule are undoubtedly lovers of this kind of movie - when the publicity started, it was already indicated that this would be a movie similar to Howard's End, so even if Adrian If you are a diehard filmmaker, you should also think about it—they all like to find the meaning of life from movies, and it is normal to applaud and applaud unanimously when facing such a movie.

Even so, this is quite an honor, after all, this is not a premiere, and the audience is from different neighborhoods, and they don't even know each other.

"I said, this is a movie worth watching." Adrian, who hid his body, patted Monica's hand and said softly, and Monica returned a faint but emotional smile. \u003c/p\u003e