Chapter 61: Kevin Spacey
It was getting late, and in the bar, several friends were holding wine glasses in their hands, drinking while listening to Levi, who was sitting in the middle talking about his movie idea. They all know that this is what Levi has prepared for a long time, and he has a lot to say about this movie.
The movie "The Lives of Others" that Levi wants to shoot is a movie about East Germany's secret eavesdropping on the field of cultural creation before the merger of the two Germanys. The plot of this movie is actually quite simple. The plot is about the monitoring of East Berlin residents by agents of the Stasi, East Germany's secret police. In 1983 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler, doubting that a famous playwright is loyal to the Communist Party, receives approval to spy on the man and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, then faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria and orders Wiesler to get the playwright out of the way.
This story is not complicated, but it has very good artistry. The three people in the movie, the agent, the playwright, and the actress, all have a gradual process. The process of the agent turning from a ruthless special agent to softening, the playwright from being a literary and artistic author who the prime minister highly regards to becoming radical, and the heroine from the very beginning compromising with the Minister of Culture for performance opportunities to when she woke up and cut off contact with the Minister of Culture, and then confessed under pressure after being arrested, the changes of these three people are three different lines. If they use good enough contrast, drama creation, and suspense creation techniques to show the psychological changes of the characters better, the artistry and depth of thought of this film are very high. There have been comments that if there are only three films left in the first ten years of the 21st century, then this should definitely be one of them, and this is not an exaggeration at all.
Of course, the premise of all this is to be able to show all the content of this movie in front of the audience. Without enough good actors, it is impossible for a good movie to show the style it should have. In the original movie, the actor who played this role had a deep understanding of the role because he was watched by his wife in East Germany, and he performed very well. But now, Levi wants to make an American version of the movie, and he cannot find a German actor. It is not easy to find someone who can play this role well.
"The identity of this character is a secret police responsible for monitoring, interrogation, and secret work. The first requirement for such a role is that it must be able to show emotions and anger. Unless the mood is particularly agitated, it must be expressionless at all times. However, while there is no requirement for expression, he has to show a gradual change in the character's mood. From the firmness at the beginning to the confusion in the middle, and then to the final rebellion, this process must not be unable to show. This actor must be able to be expressionless and show all the psychology of the characters."
Before the filming started, of course, Levi had to talk to Clark about his thoughts on several characters and his request for the leading role, which made Clark frown and even shake his head a little, "This is too demanding. Most people can't act well."
"So I said, I'll find an actor. Actually, I've already thought about who to play this role." Levi took a sip of his wine and continued, "I hope to let Kevin Spacey play this role. Do you think it is suitable?"
"Kevin Spacey? Of course, there is no problem with his acting, but will he come?"
Clark was excited for a while to hear who Levi had chosen but then frowned.
Of course, there is no problem with this actor: Kevin Spacey has been in the golden age of acting in recent years. First 'Seven,' and then 'The Usual Suspects,' and his ease of performance in these movies has proved that he is a very good actor. Most of his roles are cunning and calm. With his temperament and acting skills, playing the secret agent in this play is not a problem. He will definitely be able to play well.
However, the bigger problem is that he just won an Oscar last year and is very famous. Levi's film company has just made a movie. If he is invited, will he come?
"I don't think there is any reason for him not to come. We are not short of money, and the remuneration paid to him will not disappoint him, and he has to read the script when he chooses a movie. I also asked Alexander to find a way to hand over the script to his agent. Whether you can convince him or not depends on the script."
Levi said that he could afford his salary, which is true: Although Spacey is recognized as a good actor in Hollywood, with outstanding acting skills and a good reputation, his screen image is not very good, which seriously restricts his remuneration. Since his debut, Spacey has played impressive roles, which are basically negative images. Playing more villains, his screen image has been stereotyped as that of a strange uncle, and the image has been severely damaged, which has led to his not-too-high salary.
The American film industry may be far behind the TV industry in other respects, but it is also very realistic when it comes to money. Actors may have won awards, received good reviews, and had high status. They can give speeches, give lectures, and endorse. These things don't matter. Producers only care about one thing: How much box office can you bring to the movie? If there is a box office, there is a salary. All other evaluations fall on deaf ears. For example, Leonardo, even if Oscar and him became enemies, he still took 20 million as remuneration for movies. No box office appeal, no matter how good the acting is, it's in vain. The most typical example is Sean Penn, who has won a lot of awards, but his salary rarely exceeds five million. Actors like Spacey are also closer to the latter. Although they are famous, their salary is less than 10 million.
The only concern is that Kevin Spacey may not like Levi's movie because of his fame, and he is unwilling to act in this movie. However, Levi's memory and understanding of him should not be. In his memory, this person has some artistry. He acts not for money but for his own liking of the script.
Levi had seen many such people in his previous life. Some actors act for money, some for fame, and some are truly respectable artists pursuing performance and regard acting as a career at that time. In his past life memory, some actors took the initiative to push the position of associate director of their own drama troupe in order to have time to perform dramas every week so as to save time wasted on administration. And there are some actors who do not accept endorsements or commercials outside of filming and even directly refuse interviews. People have different pursuits, and what some people pursue is to act well for a lifetime and be a good actor.
Levi himself could not achieve this kind of pursuit, but he absolutely respected it: people who know what they want are smart people. And Kevin Spacey is also such a person. He acts in the plays he likes, can ask for less money for the plays he likes, and doesn't act in the ones he doesn't like. In his memory, he can even participate in low-budget sci-fi films like 'Moon' in the future and can also participate in the TV series "House of Cards" by Netflix. His choice is not for money but for pleasure. Therefore, what Levi needs to impress him is not money but a good script-Levi happens to have it now.
Levi can afford a salary of less than 10 million dollars. And Levi also believed that after watching his acting, he had no reason to refuse it.
What's more, he has other reasons to persuade him.
Being able to convince him means a lot. The acting skills of an actor are one of the necessary qualities for the success of a movie. This aspect cannot be ignored in any case.
"Of course, if you really hire him, the salary will cost a lot. For other roles, you can save a little bit. The role of playwright Dreyman needs a more elegant, artistic temperament. It is the kind of weak artist, but it should be a person who looks elegant and even naive, but there is a flame hidden in his heart so that his transformation will not be too abrupt later on." Levi continued. Going on, for the other roles, the actors' performance in the original movie, he felt a little lacking, and he wanted to make up for it, "Then, the role of Christina, this role must be beautiful. It's better to have a weak temperament so that the compromise in the front and the betrayal in the back can make people feel more regretful rather than hateful. What we want to reflect is an image that has suffered from injustice, and the controversy of this character will be more. If you don't have enough charm, it's easy to make people feel disgusted."
"I'll pay attention. What about the other characters?"
"Jack wants to play the role. I think it's fine to let him play the playwright's friend, the reporter, or the role can be set up to be more provocative and imposing so that it can have enough influence on the playwright. And again, the minister, the director, the dead director, and the editor-in-chief of the West German Mirror, these tasks also have some roles, but mainly a symbol of an artistic image. The minister represents the bureaucrat and the oppressor, and the director represents the sycophant assholes. The dead director is a catalyst—these people just need to find some actors with distinctive characteristics."
"I'll do it." Clark nodded.
"Again, we are not in a hurry. Now it is March. It will be very good if we can start production in May, wrap up production in September, and release it in December. This is our first film, and I don't ask for speed, and I don't ask to save money, I just shoot a good movie—you know, this movie is for myself."
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons Cherif Doghri, Abdishakur Hasan, Adam LV and Danny York.
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