Chapter 430: The Cannon Brothers, who seem to be inseparable from each other
The chairman of the jury has a great influence on the Cannes awards. This year, the chairman of the jury for the Cannes Palme d'Or is a handsome old man - Yves Montand.
He is a famous singer and star with dual nationality of Italy and China. Among the jury composed of a group of Suville directors, British producers, Polish directors and American novelists, he stood out.
"Why let a poor actor who is a singer be the chairman of the jury?" Ronald sat down to have dinner with his agent Richard and Daydream's distribution manager Michelle Cannold, holding the conference brochure.
He was very puzzled by the taste of the organizing committee.
"Ha, Ronald. You should understand. The film festival itself, like a movie, needs publicity stunts. In Hollywood, the cost of marketing a movie without a star will be more than double that of a movie with a star.
.”
Richard has been here for a few days and has seen too much of the film festival's promotional materials and Yves Montand's old face. He knows that Cannes chose a star as chairman for its own popularity.
This old handsome boy also has a certain reputation in America. Like Alain Delon, he is one of the most famous handsome stars in Western European countries.
Americans are most familiar with his affair with Marilyn Monroe, in which he starred in one of her last films, “Let’s Make Love.”
"Being a judge is a very serious matter, and it is also very difficult. There are 300 films submitted to Cannes a year, and only 20 films are finally selected for the Jury Prize and Palme d'Or. We judges are like lumberjacks.
The only thing I can do about movies is cut, cut, cut... This makes me heartbroken. All choices must be judged according to the standards of art."
An interview with Yves Montand was being conducted on TV. Cannold's assistant spoke French and translated on the spot for those present.
Ronald saw Yves Montand on TV. He had swollen eye bags and dull eyes. It looked like his face was swollen due to overindulgence. He thought to himself, how could this man have the nerve to talk about art?
"Behind all these movies are the great efforts of the director. We cannot blame the director for the problems of the finished film because of other people's mistakes. Maybe the actors were not in good condition today, or the lighting person was distracted, or the editor
A person cuts his body into three pieces and then puts the head and tail back together..."
"Pfft..." Ronald laughed so hard that the water in his mouth squirted out, and he quickly wiped it off with a napkin. Everything is expensive during the Cannes Film Festival, and the price of mineral water is as expensive as Bordeaux red wine.
This Yves Montand, I don’t know why he started to praise the director. The Chinese people insist on the auteur theory, which believes that the director controls all aspects of the film and is responsible for the final effect of the film. When it comes to Yves Montand, it is wrong
You can pass it off to others, and the credit goes to the director.
"It would be great if I was praised like this when I was making a movie in the country."
"Um...I'm afraid Cannes doesn't like our film very much, and it won't even be admitted to the minor competition. We are just premiering at the film festival." Michelle Cannold thought Ronald wanted to participate, so she quickly said
Made some observations of my own.
First of all, Cannes doesn't like blockbuster movies, nor does it like classic narrative methods that please audiences. Finally, they also hate Hollywood and believe that commercial movies have gone astray.
"Don't worry, I'm just joking." Of course, Ronald knew that he had no chance at Cannes. Moreover, he had also made movies like "Top Gun" that touted America's military strength. If the American director hadn't been anti-war, he would have been in trouble.
Cannes is simply not popular.
"But it's enough for us to accept the audience's welcome."
Cannold took out the poster he had made, which showed Jennifer Gray's flying skirt and Patrick Schwytz's muscular body.
"Very good, how is our audience booking?" Ronald put down his knife and fork and asked about the attendance of the premiere.
"It's very good. The audience here still remembers your 'Break Dance', and they are very enthusiastic to see that you have brought another dance movie. It's hard to get tickets for our premiere, and we are thinking of ways to add another screening."
"Very good, I'll go find Minahan and see if he can do anything. Cannon is now the largest film company and sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival. The roadside leading from the airport is full of their advertisements."
That night, Ronald fell asleep in a small hotel in Cannes suffering from jet lag. Every time it is awards season here, the hotel is fully booked, and the prices for such small hotels are also ridiculously expensive.
Take off your shoes and socks and curl up your toes on the carpet like a fist.
Ronald remembered the little trick he had dreamed about on the plane, followed it a few times, and felt it had some effect. The congestion in the extremities of his limbs caused by the flight was much better.
Since practicing yoga breathing methods, Ronald seems to be more likely to dream about movies. However, the dreams triggered by this kind are not as long and clear as before, and often only have a small fragment, and he does not know which movie it is.
The pace is so slow at the beginning, and it took one minute to film it as soon as we got off the plane. Isn't it a slow-paced drama?
Ronald found a notebook and wrote down the scene, took a hot bath, and fell asleep.
It was a deep sleep, and Ronald didn't dream of anything. The morning sun shone through the window onto the bed, and the warm feeling made Ronald wake up.
"Go find Minahan." Ronald finished breakfast and walked with his agent Richard to the big hotel where the Cannon man lived.
"The current Cannes Film Festival is really going to be renamed the Canon Film Festival."
The roadside billboards are also full of movie posters from Cannon Pictures. There are two at most, one is "Superman IV" and the other is Masters of the Universe.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The strong figures of Christopher Reeve and Dolph Lundgren above have attracted many young girls to stop and watch.
"Why are there no posters from other movies? There are also many Cannon Company logos?"
Ronald didn't quite understand the layout of the cannon. These advertising spaces must have cost a lot of money. Why didn't they put movie posters, but instead used them for company logos?
"I heard that many Cannon movies have been postponed this year, and the main focus will be on these two movies." Richard attended many events in Cannes and told Ronald some of the news he heard.
"Oh," Ronald nodded. These two movies have a lot of special effects. Minahan also said that the two movies are still in post-production. They must be a blockbuster and bring Superman back to the American audience.
among.
"Minahan, where is Minahan?" Arriving at the hotel where the Cannon people were staying, Ronald saw a group of people surrounding their president, Yoram.
He was wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt, beige pants, and a pair of large sunglasses on his face. People around him were surrounding him like a king.
"Where's your money? Why haven't you paid it yet? When I do business, I always pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other hand. Everyone competes fairly."
Most of the people around me are movie buyers from all over the world. Many of them don't speak English and can't understand the outline of the story on the poster. They only know that it is Superman and the one who almost beat Rocky.
From Lundgren.
But even this point made them wave their checks to buy a copy of Yoram's Cannon and play it back. Who doesn't like to see big Hollywood stars? Anyway, it's Superman, or He-Man who is similar to Superman. It doesn't matter if you can't understand the words.
The audience understands the plot.
"Ronald", Yoram saw Ronald walking in, and immediately separated from everyone and came to hug him.
"I'm so happy to see you again in Cannes. I remember the past of killing everyone here. How about this time, will the dance film be distributed overseas and handed over to our cannons? You know my credibility.
Yes, there have never been any problems with payment.”
"Okay, you've made an agreement with my subordinate, Michel Cannold, and I'll leave all the distribution matters to him."
Ronald didn't know much about overseas issuance, so he entrusted it to Cannold. The price was high anyway.
"Everyone, do you know him? This is Ronald Lee, the director of our previous Cannon Dance blockbuster, Break Dance. He made another dance movie this year. If you are interested, please talk to him, and also to me.
Okay, we are all good friends."
When buyers from various countries heard that Ronald was the director of "Break Dance", they immediately swarmed around him, speaking English with various accents, and wanted to buy his movie.
"Break dancing" has become very popular in European and Asian countries in recent years. The global broadcast of the closing ceremony of the 1984 Olympic Games has brought about the break dancing trend around the world. It has just happened in these backward countries.
Their fashion trends are always one or two years behind America's.
"Okay, you go and talk to my manager Cannold about this. We will have the premiere in a few days. Anyone who likes can go and see it."
Ronald was a little overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of these people, but fortunately Richard helped him block some people.
"How about it? Our cooperation is a perfect match. Your film is popular among third-world audiences, and we have complete global distribution channels."
"I still said what I said, go to Cannold. Under the same conditions, I will definitely come to you Cannon. By the way, where is Minahan? Why didn't you see him?" Ronald didn't want to be taken advantage of, so he casually declined the appointment.
Ram asked him to relent now.
"He's talking about production with a few star actors in the room. You... you take Ronald up to find my cousin." Yoram ordered an assistant to take Ronald upstairs.
"Relax, relax, we will praise you as Stallone's successor, it just takes a little time. Duff, do you think you are worse than Stallone? But it takes time to become famous. If your Masters of the Battle Zone
Universe), you become a star, right?"
When Ronald walked in, he saw Minahan chatting with the muscular Dolph Lundgren.
"Minahan!" Ronald called to him.
"Ronald, let me introduce you. This is Lundgren, another action star of our Cannon." Minahan was very happy to see Ronald coming.
"I've seen your performance, and it's impressive." Ronald shook Lundgren's hand politely. He played the Sewell League boxer in the Rocky series of movies, and in the first two movies, he played
Rocky's opponent, friend, and coach, the black boxing champion Apollo, was beaten to death.
Of course, Ronald was being polite. In that movie, Lundgren only showed off his muscles and had no acting skills at all.
However, with such explosive muscles, you actually don’t need any acting skills to play a villain. He is even bigger than Stallone, and the audience will know that this is the Russian Hercules at a glance.
"Minahan, I don't care what you say, I will accept interviews from the media myself. I'm sorry, Ronald, that we meet under these conditions."
Lundgren was so angry that he flexed his biceps at Minahan, making a gesture to scare him. Then he nodded with Ronald and went out.
"Ronald, I made you laugh. Duf wants to become famous, but his movie is still in the post-production stage and has not been released in Cannes. He has no chance to hold a press conference since he came, so he is a little unhappy."
"Oh, are you okay?" Ronald thought to himself, if he was deceived by Minahan in this way and could only help sell copies as a model at the exhibition without having the opportunity to enjoy star treatment and be interviewed by the media, I'm afraid he would be dissatisfied.
"It's okay." You and I will go for a walk and everything will be fine.
The two went down the stairs, and Minahan did not mention "Dirty Dancing". "Now Yoram is responsible for most of the distribution and pre-sale business, and I am mainly responsible for production. So when your movie is released, I will let Yoram
Let's talk to your people. Let's talk about movies. Essentially, I'm an artist."
"Of course..." Ronald felt the rising and falling power trend of the two brothers within the Cannon. He indeed preferred to chat more easily with Minahan, who wanted to make movies.
The two walked out of the hotel, put on their sunglasses and walked in the Cannes sunshine.
"Minahan, you liar, where did you promise to invest in my movie?"
The two of them walked out for a while, and an actress with heavy eye shadow, hair combed high, wearing a black leather jacket and high heels suddenly rushed in front of the two of them and started to curse.
"Ah..." Ronald was frightened and jumped a step away.
This woman was dressed like a medieval witch. What was particularly important was that her leather coat was very low-cut, and her tall white figure appeared in front of Ronald.
"Cassandra, Cassandra, The Lost City of Gold failed at the box office, and it's not our fault. Who made that actor named Stone ruin all the performances? The script I promised you will also be
Will be bidding.
But you have to be patient, patient. The most important thing when making a movie is patience."
"Hmph, you've been telling me to be patient for so many months, but I have no patience anymore. Can't I make 'Ecstasy' without you? I dress like this just to find a few big sponsors in Cannes.
, shoot it yourself.”
"Cassandra, don't be like this, did we agree? This will be your famous work. Right, you don't believe me, don't you believe Ronald?"
Minahan said, pushing Ronald out.
"Hello, Cassandra." Ronald remembered the actress who played the female villain in the Raiders of the Lost Ark follow-up film, "The Lost City of Gold."
"I remember giving you my business card. If you have any good scripts, just go talk to my Daydream script assistant."
"Really? When I get back to Los Angeles, I'll find you right away..."
"Is this how you dress up in the script?" Ronald asked her, looking at this strange costume.
"Yes, yes, I just dressed up like this to find a rich man willing to invest."
"Then I wish you good luck." Ronald shook hands with her. This outfit was indeed impressive.
"They always want too much, too fast. We cannon train stars and have long-term plans." Minahan lost face in front of Ronald and quickly made up for it.
"Of course, while Stallone is still here, the audience won't see Lundgren's muscles." Ronald agreed.
The two walked to the beach, where the spring breeze was blowing and the sun was very comfortable.
"It's been a long time since we took a photo, right?" Ronald thought the blue sky, white clouds, and beach coast here were very beautiful, so he wanted to take a photo with his old friend Minahan.
"I have a camera here." Minahan took out a small Rolleiflex camera.
"I'm sorry, can you take a group photo for us?" Ronald found a young man and woman with their backs to him, and politely asked each other for help.
"Ronald, why is it you?"
"Yeah, why is it you? Isabella, who is this?"
Ronald realized that this person, wearing a plain T-shirt, long pants and sandals, no makeup, and looking like a tourist rather than a film professional, was actually Isabella Rossellini.
Since her divorce from Martin Scorsese, Ronald and she have rarely seen each other. What is known is that she became a model for Lancôme, and she also photographed her boyfriend David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" and starred in a popular film.
There was quite a commotion.
But this time, the man next to her was not Lynch, but another European-looking man, about the same age as Isabella.
"My mother likes the country and used to live here for a period of time every year. I also want to enjoy a peaceful life. Not many people recognize me here."
Isabella Rossini has no makeup and is dressed in ordinary clothes. At first glance, she is not very recognizable.
"Ah, it's impossible. Anyone who has seen Ms. Bergman's movies will not fail to recognize you." Minahan stepped forward and held Isabella's hand and shook it vigorously. He was from the golden age of Hollywood.
As a loyal movie fan, I was overjoyed to see Bergman's daughter.
"This is Mr. Minahan Golan, the spokesperson for Cannon Pictures."
Ronald introduced them to each other, "Who is this?"
Now it was necessary to introduce her without any introduction, so Ronald had no choice but to step forward and ask if Isabella was secretly traveling with her lover.
"Hahahaha..." Isabella saw the expression on Ronald's face and guessed what he was thinking, "This is Roberto, my brother."
"Oh, I've longed for you," Ronald thought to himself. It's really been a long time coming. Isn't this the same pregnant child that caused Bergman to leave her husband and elope with the Italian director Rossellini?
"Hello, let me take some photos for you." Roberto took the Rolleiflex camera and asked Ronald and Minahan to stand together and take a few photos. Then Isabella took a photo with them.
"This year is the 40th anniversary of Cannes. The organizer will hold a birthday party. Will you go? Ronald?"
Isabella is a supermodel. She posed in a few random poses and took photos with Minahan, making him laugh happily.
"I'm not a director participating in the competition. The organizing committee probably didn't give me an invitation."
"How about that? I'll ask someone to give you one." Because of her parents' relationship, Isabella has many senior acquaintances in the film industry in China and Italy. If she hadn't developed in America, she would have been very popular.
It's easy to get into the European film industry.
"You must come." Isabella asked clearly about Ronald's hotel, waved to him, and left with her brother.
"She really looks like Bergman." Minahan still sighed.
Ronald shook his head. This guy is just too obsessed with the Hollywood of the past. Today's audience and market are completely different from those in the past. Television has attracted most of the adult audience. Only the stars they are interested in or the plot can attract them.
Go back to the cinema.
If you repeat the classic movie plots of the past like this, you will definitely not be able to make a big-selling movie.
"Hey," Ronald didn't know what to say and patted Minahan on the shoulder. This old friend was actually a movie fan and wanted to restore the glory of Hollywood in the past. He also wanted to restore the era of big studios, stars and producers.
The company is bound to the factory and shoots four or five movies a year.
Do you think he has a deep love for Hollywood classic movies, or is he just trying to find a way out of trouble?
In any case, the glory of Hollywood movies in the past has long been gone with the advent of television. Nowadays, when making movies, you still need to use some new thinking.
"I said, you don't seem to be showing many movies in Cannes this year." Ronald asked Minahan on the way back.
"Two big productions that were originally scheduled to be released in Cannes are still working on the special effects, so there is nothing we can do. Fortunately, Cannon's reputation is so great that movie buyers from all over the world still trust us."
"Then do you have any extra screenings here that you can spare for my 'Dirty Dancing' show?"
"Of course, your overseas release...forget it, let Yoram talk to you. I can't wait to see your second dance film."
Minahan regained his enthusiasm and pulled Ronald to talk about "Dirty Dancing".