Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 430 Easier said than done

  Dan Aykroyd was a humorous man in his life, and Ronald had a great time eating and drinking at the party with him. He made the party healthy, too, without the Hollywood beauties and illicit drugs, like chatting with old friends over beer.

   Maybe it was because Dan Aykroyd was Canadian, or maybe it was because his good friend John Belushi died of drug abuse, anyway, this kind of party is very Ronald's taste.

  Ronald got along very well with him. The two made an appointment together. When they had time, they asked John Candy, Michael J. Fox, and Cameron and other Canadians who had gone to Hollywood to invite out and have a party together.

  There are generally two types of comedians. One is that, like Bill Murray, I am very serious and boring in life, and it is their job to be funny. They often need to copy other people's jokes, and then rack their brains to calculate the rhythm, and the audience's reaction, so that the joke can play the best effect.

   There is another kind, that is, Ackroyd, who is more humorous in life. They are also very humorous people in life, and they will laugh at themselves when they feel unsatisfactory in life. They have a lot of fun getting along and are more relaxed when performing.

   After resting at home for a few days, "Night of the Comet" is still a nail in the cinema. Several weeks have passed, and the box office of the single venue is still quite high. The distribution capacity of Atlantic is unable to expand the number of screenings, but it can still keep more than 300 theaters. The box office is also rising by more than one million a week.

   It was the "Superman III" that Warner Brothers had high hopes for, and the box office dropped rapidly from the second week. Black comedy star Richard Pryor invested in the film, securing himself the role of villain Gus, replacing Lex Luthor, played by Gene Hackman.

   But his language style is full of "color", and the gags of the black talk show are out of tune with the atmosphere of the Superman series. Audiences shouted that the movie sucks, and the reviews and box office were falling at the speed of light.

  The news reached the Pinewood studio in London, making Helen Slater, who was playing "Supergirl" there, nervous. Ronald and her had several transoceanic phone calls to allay her worries. The intensive and high-intensity shooting made Helen a little nervous, and she also became suspicious of the box office failure of the Superman series.

   On this day, Ronald received a call from Weintraub, the actor Miyagi master he had longed for, had already flown to Hollywood from Dongying, and asked Ronald if he wanted to meet him.

   This is certainly not the business of a screenwriter, and co-producer. But the actor who came was too famous. Under the constant recommendation of Spielberg, Coppola, and George Lucas, Hollywood has greatly admired the director Akira Kurosawa.

   And Weintraub invited to audition, officially Kurosawa Akira's long-term queen male lead, known as "the greatest samurai on the Eastern screen" Toshiro Mifune.

   Toshiro Mifune and his interpreter arrived at Weintraub's mansion. In his large living room, Mifune bowed slightly to Weintraub and Evelson, and sat on the leather sofa.

   "You don't mind if I smoke a cigar?" Mifune asked in Japanese, and a young Japanese man beside him helped him translate into English. Weintraub graciously raised the match, lit a thin Japanese cigar, and Mifune smoked.

   "Kurozawa-kun, please introduce the masters." Mifune said to the translator, looking at the young Ronald. He didn't look anything like Weintraub, and couldn't possibly be his child.

   "Please let me introduce to you, this one you are already familiar with is the film's producer, Mr. Weintraub, this is the supervisor Evelson, who used to be the supervisor of the boxing movie 'Rocky'."

   "Hay, Evelyn Sang." Michuan bowed his head and saluted.

   "This is screenwriter Ronald" The translator Kurosawa-san introduced Ronald.

   "Hayi, such a young screenwriter? It's really surprising, he reminds me of your father, Kurosawa-kun."

   "Mifune-san surprised him by saying that you are very young."

   "Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Mifune, I like his 'Intentional Stick' very much, which is my favorite of his works." Ronald heard the translation and also indicated that he was a fan of Toshiro Mifune.

   "Kurozawa-kun, thanks to you this time." After listening to the translation, Mifune asked the translator to convey his affection for Ronald.

   This young translator is the eldest son of Akira Kurosawa, the director of Toyo, Hisao Kurosawa. He opened a small production company in America and monopolized all the business agents of his father, Akira Kurosawa, in America. Also help Dongbao, Songzhu and other Dongying studios to expand their business here.

  Ronald looked at Mifune carefully, listening to him and Weintraub, and Evelson discussing "Longwei Kid" through a translator.

   Toshiro Mifune was wearing a light-colored suit, and he had lost a lot of gray hair, which he combed meticulously. But after all, as he got older, after a long journey, he could no longer hide his deep eye bags and several inconspicuous age spots on his face.

   This Dongying star, who was born in Qingdao, Shandong in 1920, is over 60 years old. Ronald yawned a few times as he watched him discuss the plot with Evelson. Seems to be a little out of energy.

  Ronald got up, poured himself a cup of coffee, and whispered his findings in his ear as he passed Weintraub.

   Weintraub woke up from the joy of seeing his idol, got up quickly, and asked Mifune and Kurosawa to go to the hotel to rest first, and then discuss in depth later.

  Mifune was Ronald to help remind him, and he also came over and smiled at him to show his goodwill.

   "Kurozawa-kun, please thank Ronald Sand for me."

"I'm your fan, Mifune-chan. I've seen all the movies you and Akira Kurosawa have collaborated with that I can find in America." Ronald actually likes those sword and halberd films made by Akira Kurosawa. There is a kind of The stern temperament, the narration is neat and tidy, and the atmosphere is first-class.

   "Oh, I don't know which one is your favorite?" Mifune was waiting for the car at the door of the living room, and simply chatted with Ronald through Hisao Kurosawa.

"My favorite is the scene where you and Tatsuya Nakadai duel in 'Junior Tsubaki'. I've always wondered how you rehearsed that lore move, as if you and Mr. Tatsuya Nakadai were really dueling. Again, the emotional outburst is great."

After listening to Mifune translated by Hisao Kurosawa, he nodded and replied, "Then I would also like to thank Superintendent Kurosawa. If he hadn't said that the filming was not good, he would have to use a real sword. I and Nakadai-kun wouldn't be so afraid. It's done, hahaha."

   "So you didn't rehearse that scene?" Ronald was surprised, but he could also explain why the two were so emotional.

"This is also a coincidence. At that time, the props that manipulated the organs made a mistake, and the switch was turned too far, which caused the blood on Zhongdai Taya to rush too much too fast. Everyone thought I really cut Zhongdai-kun's body. They all screamed, you can still hear it when you watch the film.

   I was also a little worried, so you can tell I was nervous in that shot. I only thought that I must not make mistakes, otherwise I would waste the kindness of Nakadai Tatsuya-kun. "

   "The car is here, Mifune-kun." Hisao Kurosawa reminded beside him.

   Ronald helped to open the car door and sent the three boats.

   He now kind of understands why Kubrick would call himself and ask about how the scene was shot.

   The final duel scene of "Tsubaki Juro" was very neat, but Ronald had always had a question. Generally speaking, there are two ways to shoot fighting scenes. One is like the lightsaber duel in "Star Wars", where two actors swing their weapons to one place so that no one is in danger of being injured.

   The second method is the Western method. Both sides swung at each other's weapons. If the protagonist doesn't have a weapon, hit him in the torso and give the protagonist a hand to block it. The advantage of this method is that it is less rigid and more realistic than the first one.

   But both methods have a disadvantage, that is, they must be fed. If the camera is aimed at the two sides of the duel and take a close-up, you will find that the actors themselves do not feel the danger of a real fight, so it is difficult to express the momentary emotion between the victory and defeat.

   Akira Kurosawa, in order to film the moment of fear, fortunate, unwillingness, etc., in order to shoot a duel, actually threatened the actor with a real knife when the film was not good. He was really desperate to make a movie. However, the coincidence of the props opening up the water pipe also happened to stimulate the real reaction of both parties.

The final duel scene of "Longwei Kid", in order to have this kind of texture, must be well designed, and strive to make the two protagonists succeed at one time. If the second scene is made, it will not be as intense as the first time. natural response.

"But this shouldn't be something I should consider." Ronald shook his head, his occupational disease was committed again, and he was always thinking about how to design the scene. Elvisson filmed the "Rocky" boxing scene, but it was very popular. Well, he must have his own way.

"Ronald, John, I think Mifune is an excellent choice to play Miyagi-sensei. The samurai from Akira Kurosawa's movie came to teach Danny karate, and the American audience couldn't be happier." Winter Raub went back to the living room and pulled Ronald and Evelson to discuss.

   Weintraub wanted Toshiro Mifune to play the role, but Ronald and Evelson both saw that Mifune was too old to act in action scenes. Miyagi has a lot of roles in teaching Danny, and it would be too cruel to let an old man in his 60s practice karate again.

"Mifune is of course the spokesperson for the image of the samurai, but his action scenes may not be able to produce satisfactory results." Evelson immediately objected, "and he speaks in a slow dramatic tone, similar to the films after the New Wave. The line requirements are out of touch."

   "Huh?" Ronald glanced at Evelson and thought, "Didn't you teach me not to convince the producers of your views directly, but to make them think it's their own?"

   "That's Toshiro Mifune, as long as he appears on the screen, it will make the audience happy." Weintraub is obviously also a fan of the East Asian movie, he is very fond of the sword and halberd films by directors such as Akira Kurosawa.

"America hasn't really seen Kurosawa's films, and I think most audiences hear Kurosawa's name through Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg. "Evilson added his point of view.

"What do you think? Ronald." Weintraub did not disagree with Evelson's statement, but Toshiro Mifune appeared in the first film he produced. The temptation was too great, it was his dream come true.

"I'm thinking about a question, Mr. Weintraub. In our script, Mr. Miyagi is arranged to be a Japanese-American who is an apartment repairman and loves potted plants. The disadvantage is English grammar. It sucks.

   But he usually has no problem communicating with people. "Ronald asked the question from another angle.

   "You're right, then what?" Weintraub asked.

   "Then Miyagi is actually someone who doesn't speak English with proper grammar, isn't he a little different from someone who doesn't speak English at all?"

"That's right," Weintraub thought for a while and thought it made sense. "If you say that, you make me think of another question. Mr. Mifune doesn't speak English, so when he is performing his lines, will he let the People think he is a real Eastern Ying, not a Japanese who has completely wrong English grammar but can communicate with ordinary people?"

   "In our film, what we need is a master who can explain moves to Danny and impart life experiences. If such a person can't speak English, he will not be able to convince the audience."

   Weintraub seemed to have found a blind spot and turned to Ronald and Evelson.

"Do you know? Mr. Weintraub, I think you're right, Master Miyagi, he should be more like Master Yoda in Star Wars, and the inversion doesn't prevent him from imparting Skywalker wisdom." Rona Germany echoes the road.

   "Very well, John, we'll arrange an audition for Mr. Mifune tomorrow, but in my opinion, his chances are not great." Weintraub drank the rest of the coffee with regret.

   (end of this chapter)