Chapter 39
1723 Words
Going to the movie theater to see a new release is a good way to spend Christmas Day.
Daisy Bell was just about to walk into a movie theater with some friends to pass the time.
After the movie, it was time for a Christmas night parade.
The movie theater is always packed on Christmas Day, and you might even meet a Hollywood star who's come to the premiere.
Speaking of Hollywood stars, Daisy Bell couldn't help but feel a little resentful.
Her favorite actress of the last two years, Margaret Adjani, seems to be living a reclusive life, not to mention attending all kinds of dinners, and the paparazzi can't even keep track of her whereabouts except for filming on the set of a movie.
CAA has a great team on her behalf, with a driver who can often get rid of the paparazzi behind the car in less than ten minutes.
And her Beverly Hills home is so secure, it's impossible to break in.
What's more, there are rumors that Margaret's three personal bodyguards are not ordinary men who are good at fighting, not to mention the former Winter Soldier and tough mutants, even the symbol of the spirit of the United States of America's Captain America, have begun to be responsible for her personal safety.
--It's crazy that a Hollywood actress can hire three superheroes as bodyguards.
She's interviewed by countless newspapers and magazines every day, and anything she says will sell like hotcakes.
But the most legendary and mysterious actress of our time has always shied away from talking about her private life to the public and the media, rarely giving interviews to the press except during awards season, and with the connivance of her golden agent, she could live in seclusion in Los Angeles if she wanted to.
She's a golden age movie star, and it's hard to see her anywhere but in the movies.
But in a way, that's not such a bad thing; when her movies come out, fans all go crazy just to get a glimpse of this classic beauty.
Not to mention the two movies that will be released in March and April of next year, "Pianist at Sea," which opens in Italy in late October of this year, has barely been claimed in North America lately, which is clearly out of character.
At this point in the movie theater, the newly released comedy-romance film "Electronic Love Letters" is undoubtedly the most highly ranked.
The Disney and Pixar 3D computer-animated movie "Bug Squad", which was released nearly a month ago, is close behind, and "Dumb and Dumber", starring Adam Sandler, has also received a good number of screenings.
There is no doubt that a waterfall of family-friendly comedy movies is in keeping with the Christmas spirit.
There didn't seem to be much else to choose from, and Daisy was a little disappointed when she suddenly saw the words in the far corner of the movie schedule announcement--
The Legend of 1900
Is The Pianist at Sea even in theaters today?
Why was there no publicity beforehand? And even on opening day today, there are only two screenings?
Her companion, Blake White, was equally shocked and went straight to the theater manager to ask why, and the result was simply unbelievable--
There will only be five theaters in the U.S. that will be showing The Pianist at Sea, and Hollywood's home base of Los Angeles accounts for three of them, but the scheduling is almost always described as abysmal.
Man, is overseas distributor Fine Line Inc. crazy?
Daisy incredulously posted the news on the IMDB movie discussion group, and a few minutes later, the discussion thread continued to float in the red, getting the attention of thousands of movie fans.
Soon, the reason surfaced -
Overseas distributor Fine Line, in violation of the Berne Convention, which stipulates that "the final cut of a movie belongs to the director," asked the director to cut the film, and after receiving a flat refusal, maliciously suppressed the distribution because of a dispute over personalities?
Outraged, Ajani's fans called Fine Line in droves, and within two hours, Fine Line's official e-mail address was flooded with emails from all over the world.
Movie distribution has always been affected by many factors, and it's hard to tell the winner from the power struggle between business and politics.
But Fine Line's blatant violation of the Berne Convention is clearly a major taboo in the industry, and in addition to fans' dissatisfaction, many well-known directors have been interviewed and issued statements condemning this behavior.
Distributors and directors have always been at odds over the issue of editing, often missing their original schedules because of their mutual dislike of each other.
Even if the final decision is made to release the film, the wily distributor will propose a small release first to see what happens, and then gradually expand the scale of the screening.
But in reality, a small, silent release will only completely drag down the movie's box office and momentum, and there won't be any subsequent progress in expanding the screenings.
And right now, The Pianist at Sea is clearly being treated as such.
The incident has even angered a number of lovers of the literary genre--
It's an ironic contrast to look at the flood of comedy commercials that are being released right now during the Christmas season, and consider the pathetic scheduling of the ultra-romantic "Pianist at Sea".
It's clear that Fine Line has been targeted for a crazy Christmas that they'll never forget.
So on the following day, December 26, 1998, in complete contrast to Fine Line's steadily declining stock price, The Pianist at Sea's North American run exploded in size, reaping the box office and attendance it deserved.
It was able to easily recoup its $20 million production costs, at least with its current development.
As a literary movie, it's clearly a success.
However, the North American media's assessment of the film has been markedly polarized -- the
It's a captivating, astonishing and beautiful maritime epic, dynamic poetry. --The Washington Post
The movie builds with tantalizing care to pique our interest in it from the start, and Ajani's presence is exhilarating. --Los Angeles Times
The Pianist at Sea has a scene that could easily be worth the price of admission - the Virginia tilting back and forth in a Pacific storm, with 1900 in the ballroom playing obliviously along with a moving piano, as gorgeous and amusing as a waltz across the floor. --Philadelphia Inquirer
This is the kind of movie that both gives you good payoffs and tests your patience. --Chicago Tribune
Insightful, irresistible movies aren't this simple, make-up-yourself fable that looks pretty but doesn't make sense, and it's disappointing that Ajani doesn't contribute her fair share of acting. --San Francisco Examiner
The movie swings wildly between fairy tale and drama in an endless stream. An extreme romantic literary epic? It feels to me like an extreme adherence to sentimentalism. --Newsweek
The movie obviously couldn't please all the critics, but fans were extraordinarily surprised by Ajani's cameo.
She doesn't have much of a part, just four scenes, and doesn't even get much of a chance to shine.
But surprisingly, under director Tornadore's lens, Ajani is beautiful beyond imagination.
The rich romanticism that characterizes Tornadore's work is a hallmark of his work, and in this film, he accurately amplifies Ajani's extraordinary beauty.
The audience in the movie theater, at this moment, seems to have become 1900, and is looking through the porthole at the young girl on the deck.
The sea breeze blew her black hair, as if God could not help but caress her delicate features, and those ice blue eyes, sad and mysterious, just a look, let a surge of love come out of life.
The unique beauty and pathos of Ajani's loneliness was amplified to the extreme by Tornadore, and it seems that without any depiction, she herself is full of moving storytelling.
That's why even the critics, who used to look favorably on Ajani, didn't buy into her inability to show her acting skills in this film.
But many young people, who were extraordinarily fascinated by the beauty she displayed, even entered the theater screening room for the second and third time for the sake of these four short scenes.
At the end of the century, the only person who can conquer the youth of America with his beauty alone is Leonardo DiCaprio, and I'm afraid that we have to add Ajani to the list.
At this moment, these two young people, who have been blessed with amazing beauty by God's partiality, are sitting in the corner of the screening room of an isolated and uninhabited small theater.
"I think my big ship is better." Leo raised an eyebrow and looked sideways at the dark-haired beauty beside him.
Margaret was noncommittal, just shrugging her shoulders, "You became king of the world with that big ship."
In the dark theater, Leo's blonde hair but still looks very beautiful, "When are you going to make a movie with me, I heard that you turned down the invitation to shoot 'The Beach', what a disappointment, the female lead, François, is a French girl in the story, it's just tailor-made for you."
What Leo didn't say is that the hero and heroine have a romantic as hell passionate kissing scene in the water.
Marguerite didn't seem to notice Mr. Millionaire's peculiar thoughts at all, explaining, "I'm going into production in March for the French-American romantic biopic Rodin's Lover, which is on a collision course with the shooting dates for The Beach, so obviously I can't do both."
Leo frowned, "Why didn't I get an invitation to film?"
Margaret dropped a popcorn into her mouth, "Probably because Rodan is forty-three and you still look like a pretty boy?"
Mr. Man-Maniac, who was being courted by the world, said disappointedly, "For the first time, I wish I was a middle-aged man with hair."
Margaret said honestly, "Then I'm afraid I won't be accepting any more personal offers from you, Mr. DiCaprio."
Leo indignantly charged, "You really are only interested in my beauty!"
Margot nodded, "That's why you must always keep in mind to never disfigure your face."
Leonardo: In addition to working out, I'm afraid you can't leave skincare behind.
- Writer
