章節 214: Gift
"Very well, this scene is over. Charlize, Well done!"
After shouting to stop, it took a while for Levi to speak again. After hearing what Levi had said, the surroundings, which had been very quiet until now, became busy and noisy. The crowd ran around moving the set, and makeup artists and assistants immediately came over beside the two leading actors.
Everything is like in Hollywood...
Theron looked at the people around her with low eyebrows; she smiled, rejected the mirror he handed over, and walked toward Levi.
"Now, I really feel the cultural differences you mentioned." While walking towards Levi, Theron spoke, "It's just a pity that the filming is almost over. It's really a shame to finish filming a film in a month. It is unbelievable."
"If it was another actor, they would be very excited to get paid within a month." Hearing what Theron said, Levi shrugged and joked.
Hearing Levi's ridicule, Theron slapped him angrily on the shoulder.
"Who do you think I'm worried about? I'm not worried that I acted in a bad movie; I'm worried about you. If a movie is shot too fast, I feel it's hard to produce a good one." Sitting next to Levi, Theron frowned, "It only took one month to shoot, and many people in the crew were all Japanese. Wouldn't the film shot in this way really ruin your brand?"
Levi looked back at Theron; Theron showed a slightly angry look, which made him smile slightly.
"I said, you don't have to think about my problems; you only need to think about yourself. I am very satisfied when I already have 'The Departed' coming out this year. This movie is for you and only for you. Don't worry about the rest."
Hearing Levi's words, Theron put a smile on her face. Levi was willing to make movies for her at the expense of his own reputation, so what was she dissatisfied with?
Levi and Theron are talking. The people around are also busy with their own affairs. Looking at these very dedicated people, Levi also admired not only Theron but even had to lament the dedication of these Japanese.
There is nothing wrong with choosing to shoot 'Lost in Translation' in Japan.
The movie Levi gave Theron was Lost in Translation. When he said in the first half of the year that he would make a movie for Theron, this movie was what he thought of.
Levi shot this movie for Theron. There was only one reason for choosing this movie: he really hoped to see Theron win this year's Oscar — he has always wanted to give Theron some gifts. He thinks this is the best gift for Theron.
Of course, not the heroine, but the supporting actress.
This year's Oscar heroine, there is really nothing to contend for: since Julia Roberts has played a good movie, no one should even think about competing with her. The title of Hollywood's No. 1 actress is not fake.
As the most famous actress among audiences, her popularity in the United States is unimaginable.
She is always the kind of actor who is not too beautiful, but quite close to the people. As the only actress with a salary of 20 million dollars, Levi doesn't think Theron has the ability to compete with her.
Therefore, fighting for Best Supporting Actress is the greatest possibility.
Theron's image determines that her acting path is not particularly wide, which is also one of the biggest bottlenecks she encountered when acting.
If Levi wanted her to win the award, he naturally had to find a way to remedy it for her. And how to fix it? As a director, Levi still has some ideas. What he thought of was shooting the Lost in Translation movie.
There is a very good point: the woman's identity in this movie can be said to be the heroine, and at the same time, it can also be said to be a supporting actress.
If she is reported as a supporting actress, the supporting role will be perfect, and the possibility of being selected is very high.
Moreover, the original director of this film is Sofia Coppola. Because it is the work of a female director, the shooting itself is more feminine compared with other films, the story is plain and beautiful, and the focus is on emotional catharsis rather than the twists and turns of the story, which are the characteristics of female-oriented films.
It is easier to shine when shooting female characters from a female perspective.
What's more, this movie, in his memory, is a very unique movie. It uses the lens to express the communication of characters and uses the clear focus process to highlight the faces.
This approach is hard to use in other movies because it's very informal.
However, using it in a movie with a main line of romance is very good. This kind of hazy technique is the best way to shoot this kind of hazy movie.
What Levi is more concerned about is that because of this focused shooting style, the faces of the actors will appear in the movie a lot of time. With many facial expressions, it will be more beneficial to the acting performance.
With these, Levi thinks he can also highlight Theron's acting skills. Shooting this movie is very likely to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
In memory, Scarlett Johansson acted in this movie. However, unfortunately for her, she did not get the nomination.
On the one hand, she is a bit too young, and playing a young woman at the age of 19 is a bit out of character. Moreover, she filmed the two films Lost in Translation and Girl with a Pearl Earring that year, which also caused a diversion of votes.
But now, Theron doesn't have this worry, so Levi thinks her hope is still great.
Moreover, this movie has another advantage: Compared with other movies, this movie can be said to be very simple. It can definitely be filmed in a month. It's only September now; if the film production is faster, it will definitely be able to catch up with this year's Christmas schedule.
He knows many other good movies, but there are almost none that can be finished within two months. This is the most likely if he wants to catch up with this year's Christmas schedule.
In his memory, this movie is Sofia Coppola's movie, but now, as far as he knows, Sofia Coppola is getting sweet in her married life. It is said that this is the work after she and her husband started to have conflicts. Now that she is still happily married and there are not so many conflicts, naturally, she has no intention of writing this work.
Since she didn't write it, Levi could use it. He can only say one thing in his heart: maybe this can save a failed marriage, and that's not bad.
Levi also invested in the filming of this film. He had already started preparing in the first half of the year.
He recruited the original actor, Bill Murray, and came to Tokyo to shoot the movie. He also specifically contacted Sony to co-produce and asked them to find him Japanese actors and art directors so the filming would go smoothly.
Indeed, the so-called smoothness refers to the difficulty of filming. When it comes to everything else in the film itself, Levi is also making changes during the filming process.
Sofia Coppola made this movie. Although it won a lot of praise at the beginning, there are still some big problems in some places.
The first is the interpretation of culture: she chose Tokyo, a place where Eastern and Western cultures are mixed to form a weird place. If it is used well, it can be very good.
However, this movie also has the usual problems of American pride and arrogance, and there are also cases of deliberate ugliness of Japan in the filming.
For example, when the male protagonist takes a shower, the nozzle is too low, mocking the Japanese for their short stature. Repeated mockery of Japanese-accented English, ridicule of Japanese over-accommodation, etc. It is a kind of discrimination against other cultures.
Shooting cultural differences can be shown in a better way. It is a bit low-level to have to use this way of distorting and uglifying others.
In this regard, Levi will definitely change. In his eyes, there is no need to make fun of anyone. Although the Japanese do have many shortcomings, there is no need to pollute his own movie in order to vilify them.
Also, it is the investment of this movie, which is a little low. Because of underinvestment, when shooting, many shots can only be taken by candid shots. The shots shot like this are not beautiful enough, and the movie is naturally not good enough. At the beginning of this movie, the night view of Tokyo is beautiful, but there is no such beautiful view later.
This problem does not exist for Levi. He just wanted to hold Theron up, so he didn't mind spending a little money.
The most important point is that when Sofia Coppola was shooting this movie, it was only her second movie, so she was still very immature in terms of story theme and shooting. In addition, she is a female director, and she focuses on feelings rather than stories. Therefore, the movie seems a bit flat and scattered.
What kind of story does this story tell at the end? What changed after the exchange between the two? They used to have difficulty tolerating cultural differences; has it changed since then? None of this was explained.
In other words, the director herself didn't want to explain it because Sofia Coppola was thinking about getting divorced when she was filming this work, so it was not only the people in the movie who were lost but also herself.
While Levi shoots movies, he doesn't want to be lost like this.
"The two people in the movie, Harris and Charlotte, are lonely. But, the difference is that Harris has been married for 25 years and is used to this loneliness, which is only more apparent after being in a strange place. And Charlotte just got married, she is not used to this kind of confusion, she is hesitating.
Therefore, the communication between the two is Harris guiding Charlotte to have a deeper understanding of life. Harris is helping Charlotte adapt to life and also gain redemption in the process...
It's such a story."
Levi made some changes to the original film: he is a man, after all, and he can't shoot works that are too stream-of-consciousness for women, so he must revise.
In the original work, such feelings already exist, but because viewed from the director's female perspective, a lot of sexual feelings have been added, affecting the depth of the film.
The part where Harris guided Charlotte was strengthened and combined the exploration of life with integrating cultural differences. This adaptation made the clues of the movie more apparent, and the theme improved a little.
However, Levi is very clear that even if such a niche film can be improved, it still has the problem of being too small. Don't expect too much for such a small film, whether it has a good box office or a good evaluation.
If someone else shoots such a movie, it is called success. For Levi now, it is not enough to care.
However, this movie is not for making money or having good reviews. After the filming is completed, it is enough for Theron to show her acting skills. He has said that this is a gift to Theron.
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Scott DePaepe
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
Britanna
Mandy G
The Main Man
Marcelo Maia
Danny York
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