Chapter 47: West Berlin Audiences Love Dirty Dancing
"What do you think of your Oscar nomination for Best Director?" Two Los Angeles newspapers, "The Hollywood Reporter" and "Variety", have already interviewed Ronald. This time it is the New York film and television comedy magazine's turn.
"Stage" reporter came to interview.
Everyone asked almost similar questions, and Ronald followed the pre-arranged announcement and showed a charming smile again, as if the other person asked a good question that really tickled him.
"I feel honored. This is a great compliment for me... The Oscar judges and members of the Academy are very fair. I am very touched to be recognized by them..."
Just like the first interview, Ronald was very cooperative and completed the process. Today, five or six media came to interview him, mainly because he was nominated for the Oscar's major creative award before he turned 30.
This is a very good news point.
After dealing with the reporters, agent Richard handed over the phone receiver and said, "Steven called me back."
Ronald raised his eyebrows and answered the phone. Since the nomination was announced, he asked his agent to contact Spielberg's assistant, hoping to have a chat with him.
The epic film "Empire of the Sun" carefully crafted by Spielberg is a film with special intention to compete for awards, taking advantage of the popularity of Chinese culture in recent years and the Oscar's preference for epic films.
But he did not receive any nominations for the five most important awards. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actor, and Best Screenplay all failed.
This is nothing short of a humiliation for a commercial director of Spielberg's level. And the minor awards his films won for Best Costumes made Spielberg speechless. After all, the audience
I just noticed in the news that his movie received six nominations.
After Ronald got the nomination, he was overjoyed and noticed some problems. He hoped to chat with Spielberg to avoid misunderstandings. Richard flew over from Los Angeles, and Niceta kept in touch with Spielberg over there.
Grid's assistant.
"Ronald, it's me." Spielberg's voice came from the phone.
"Steven, what happened? I like the directing skills of 'Empire of the Sun' very much. How could the Oscars not give you a nomination? This is very unfair. Some directors I know well are talking about this."
, if necessary, we can join forces to speak for you. The quality of the British director's work is not bad, but it is obviously not on the same level."
Spielberg was silent for a long time, "Forget it, Ronald. This matter has nothing to do with you. It is caused by other factors. By the way, I haven't congratulated you on getting the best director nomination. Enjoy your first time.
The joy of being nominated.”
"Oh, thank you. I'm actually surprised this time. I wasn't even nominated for Best Director by the Directors Guild. Maybe it's because my agency has put in a lot of effort, plus I'm lucky."
"CAA did some work?"
"Yes, I don't know how they handled it specifically, but Mr. Ovitz really helped a lot..."
The two chatted for a while, and Spielberg hung up the phone and said to Kathleen Kennedy, the general manager of Amblin Productions and his former assistant, "Ronald's nomination was obtained by CAA with public relations help.
of."
"OK, I don't think he is the person behind the scenes. The most he can do is find a way to get into the nomination list, but he does not have the ability to cancel all the important nominations of a certain movie. In fact, he can have such a strong influence on the Academy's judges.
Powerful, it can only be..."
Spielberg raised his hand to stop Catherine from continuing, "Please contact Michael from CAA. I want to talk to him."
Ovitz has been working hard to sign Spielberg, who has the most commercial appeal in Hollywood. However, because of the commission from the agency, Spielberg has been unwilling to sign a contract with Michael Ovitz, preferring to
Establish a company to handle brokerage matters.
…
After being nominated for an Oscar, Ronald suddenly found that his authority in the crew seemed to have suddenly increased a lot.
Especially the heroine Melanie Griffiths. She has a passionate relationship with Wall Street banker Liam Dalton, and he drives her every time.
After seeing Ronald, Griffiths always wanted to tell Ronald his analysis of Tess, hoping to get his advice.
"In the movie Pygmalion, a girl's transformation begins with her hairstyle. Only from the outside to the inside can Tess believe in her abilities. She is no longer a secretary, but can act as a broker on Wall Street."
"Very good", Ronald said that Melanie Griffith's character analysis was quite appropriate. The difficulty of this performance is not only to convince the actor himself, but also to convince the audience who are watching the movie for the first time.
What better way to make the audience aware of the heroine's transformation than an ugly duckling-like appearance rebirth?
"Thank you. I have watched the Pygmalion video tape many times. I think Tess's state of mind is like this... She neither fully believes that she can pretend to be an investment manager like her boss Catherine, nor is she willing to let her good ideas be used by Catherine.
Take it as your own..."
Melanie Griffiths continues to analyze the character's psychological state.
"Stop...stop..." Ronald quickly asked her to stop and stop using this analytical method to dissect the psychology of Tess's character in the script.
"Why, am I thinking wrong?"
"I think it's ok. I've seen several of your previous movies and talked with your director, Jonathan Demme, and director Brian De Palma. You are a talented actor who relies on intuition to act. When the time comes, follow the instructions
Just act according to your instincts and don't get too caught up in this kind of character analysis."
Ronald and the previous directors who have worked with Melanie Griffith have all inquired about the acting methods that she is good at. Every one of her moves is often unexpected, and she has an inspiration for improvisation that can make her opponents
The actors' performances also improved.
Ronald didn't want Griffiths to lose his aura and switch to the method where all reactions were designed. This was a huge waste of acting talent.
"Am I? Am I really a genius?" One of the five nominees for the Oscar for Best Director said that he is a genius. In short, he can't be wrong. Melanie Griffiths was stunned by Ronald's compliment.
My mind was swaying, and I sat aside blankly to think about my thoughts.
"Joan", Ronald saw Joan Cusack, who played the supporting role of Xin, on the other side. She was communicating with a Wall Street elite in a suit and tie. That was another investment manager recommended by Bannon, named Richard.
Burke, courting Joan Cusack.
No matter how many beautiful girlfriends bankers have, Hollywood beauties always seem to have a different aura, and dating them seems to improve their social status.
"Dick, the director wants to talk to me," Joan Cusack skillfully instructed the bald Dick to do something.
Joan Cusack now shows off with the exaggerated hairstyle and makeup of a secretary. Fortunately, her own beauty has not been damaged much by this exaggerated appearance.
"Director, I am pretending to be a secretary every day and go to Dick's office to act as a secretary. Haha, not many people there can tell me apart from the real secretary."
"Hi, Joan. I think you are experiencing life well." Ronald felt that her temperament was slowly developing towards that of a real secretary.
"I feel like I have to live more as a secretary to play her better. So I'm thinking about it..." Joan Cusack had a crazy idea. She felt that her salary was too high.
, the money that is far beyond what a Wall Street secretary can earn, you should adjust your salary to the level of a secretary, so that you can act out the feeling of a secretary.
"Stop...stop...", Ronald quickly stopped Joan Cusack. Just the opposite of Griffith, this person's problem is too much intuition and too little analysis. The role of Sheen is an exaggerated supporting role,
It is necessary to magnify some of the characteristics of the secretarial profession at the boundary so that the audience can remember it and thus highlight Tess's uniqueness among secretaries.
"How much do you know about the character Sheen?" Ronald asked.
"She is Tess's best friend and likes exaggerated makeup and hairstyles..." Joan Cusack said something. During this period, she mainly imitated her secretary in words and deeds, rather than using rational analysis.
"Tess is an ambitious secretary, but Xin doesn't want to go to such trouble. Like most secretaries, she doesn't want to continue learning advanced business and financial knowledge. She just wants to do her job well and find a reliable boyfriend to marry.
But her and Tess's personalities complement each other, and they both like each other's ideas, and they also place their previous dreams on this friend who has not given up hope."
"Director, the actor is really lucky to have such guidance from you." Joan Cusack felt that the analysis was profound, and she naturally flattered Ronald.
"You'll know if you make more movies. It's different from drama. This business still depends on luck." Ronald smiled at her and asked her to go back and think more about how to design actions and lines to express Xin's temperament.
Actors are unlike other positions. The final performance on the screen is the result of many factors. Such as director, photography, makeup, hairstyle, lighting, and even final editing. A performance clip that has been greatly praised by film critics is actually
It's not mainly because the actor has good acting skills, it's not necessarily the same.
For example, among the Oscar nominations this year, "The Last Emperor" won nine awards and ranked first among all movies. Obviously the performances of the actor John Lone and the heroine Joan Chen were outstanding, but for this reason, there was no
Received nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress.
In particular, the leading actor John Lone not only won film critic awards and was recognized by the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, but this was not the first time that he was praised by film critics. Previously, he played a prehistoric primitive man in "Iceman".
and "Year of the Dragon" by Chinatown's new generation of godfathers, both of which are highly praised.
However, during the selection process, most members of the Academy of Film Technology and Arts rejected John Lone's acting skills and did not vote for him, citing the self-deceptive reason that the actor's performance was the credit of director Bertolucci.
Playing the last emperor from youth to old age, regardless of whether his acting skills can win an award in the end, Ronald believes that John Lone's acting skills are nominated, which is a deserved honor. Moreover, he has won awards for his outstanding performances in two previous movies.
There are few film critics, but no Oscar nominations. This is a human debt, and the Oscar jury will usually correct it in the subsequent voting.
Therefore, it is very strange that John Lone did not get a nomination.
Nominated Marcello Mastroianni, the Italian star's film "Dark Eyes", an Italian-Soviet co-production based on Chekhov's story, was so obscure that no critics gave it a thumbs up
Good reviews.
What's even more strange is that "Dark Eyes" only had one nomination for Best Actor, which shows that the judges did not favor this movie very much, and this lonely nomination was more like a make-up.
John Lone is the hero of a sumptuous biopic whose story spans some of the most important chapters in 20th century history, including World War II and its aftermath.
Since the main characters in the movie are all Chinese-American, it is really difficult for the public to understand that a movie that has won all major awards but lacks any nominations for acting awards.
Of course, for people in the industry, it is a semi-open secret that the actor judges who are responsible for the nomination and voting do not want a yellow-skinned actor to be recognized. And because they are elected by vote, this kind of discrimination is also a semi-open secret.
It is difficult to obtain evidence and make public accusations.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Oscar, the award that represents the highest achievement in Hollywood, does have many uncertain factors interfering with it. It is not like the Golden Globe Awards, which can greatly increase the probability of winning the award with a few operations.
After the nominations were announced, the nominated films began to have more screenings in theaters. Audiences were driven by the curiosity of the nominations and began to go into theaters to find out what it was like to be a non-staff judge.
Michael Gray, who was in charge of the movie's marketing, began to work hard in major media to get more regional newspapers to reprint Ronald's interviews. More posters began to appear at the door of ticket offices of theaters across the country.
"Ronald, it's time. A trip to West Berlin will allow 'Moonlight' to appear in more entertainment news headlines for free in the media. The quality of the films participating in the competition section of this year's West Berlin International Film Festival
It's very common. Apart from the sultry moonlight, there is only one movie in Hollywood that broadcasts news." Art director Polly Platt was urging Ronald to attend the West Berlin Film Festival.
"Okay, I'll try to stay there for a few days as little as possible. I'll leave everything to you here." Ronald was very confident in Pratt's coordination ability. This strong woman is not only very suitable for the position of producer,
She also knew a lot about the preparatory work for directing. Ronald planned to let her take on the position of co-producer and then have the opportunity to work at Daydream Company.
"No, no, you have to stay longer. The West Berlin Film Festival has the shortest history among the three major film festivals in Europe. It was established during the Cold War to set an example. You communicate more with them. If you can win a Golden Bear
Returning the award will be good for your Oscar."
"I heard that there is almost no chance of winning the award after being nominated for the first time. Do you mean I still have a chance?" Ronald felt strange that Polly Platt was more interested in her than him.
"Oscars are a very stingy award. My ex-husband Peter Bogdanovich was nominated for Best Director at a very young age, but he never got one again." Polly Platt made an I Am Not
Cursing your gesture, "So, don't pass up an opportunity. Oscar nominations are hard for anyone."
Ronald, who Platt said was a little nervous, boarded a flight to West Berlin. This city was actually an enclave within East Germany. As Platt said, it was an enclave of Eastern Europe.
As a showcase for Western prosperity, the West German government actually spent a lot of money to make this place sparkling.
Berlin-Tempelhof Airport is a commercial and military airport in West Berlin. The city of West Berlin is also surrounded by the territory of East Germany. It is the frontier of the Cold War, completely different from the warm and peaceful New York, and can be seen everywhere
Gray reinforced cement concrete building.
When you come out of the airport, you can see the towering TV tower of East Berlin. This is also part of the competition and showoff between the two camps.
The weather was still very cold, so the organizing committee sent a woman to be Ronald's translator.
This lady named Hannah spoke very good English without a German accent. She especially liked Ronald's movie "Dirty Dancing" and had seen it three times. On the way to the hotel, she kept discussing with Ronald about the movie.
plot.
According to Hannah, West Berliners like "Dirty Dancing" very much. Just like Ronald's "Break Dancing" caused a break dancing craze in Germany a few years ago, this time the mambo dance in "Dirty Dancing"
, also became popular among West Berliners.
When Ronald heard the admiration expressed by such a fan for him, he felt a little different in his heart. Directors rarely have such fans to praise them. Occasionally meeting one in a foreign country feels quite good.
"Thank you. You're very flattering."
"I'm not exaggerating the impact of your movie here, I'm just telling the truth." Hannah is a typical German, and she regards politeness as a question, "Not only do we like to watch it, but audiences in the east also like to watch it. We have a
Cinemas, where your movies are shown all day long, are your most loyal audience for 'Dirty Dancing'. You can make more than half of the people cry every time."
"Huh?" Ronald felt so strange. "Dirty Dancing" is a romantic comedy with beautiful and sexy dances. How could he cry while watching it?
"If you don't believe it, I can take you there tonight. There are really many people crying..."