Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 292 Coppola's Interview

  In the end, Ronald agreed with Universal's opinion, ignoring the follow-up work by the two Israelis, and insisted that his release time would not change. He believed that his films were far superior in quality to the Israelis.

  Israel Go-Go brothers, very happy to hear this too. They also spent a lot of money to buy the rights to use well-known bands such as U2 to make movie episodes.

  Two fat Israelis think they've found the "secret code" for the American film market.

   Ronald received a call from Helen Slater today.

   "I'm coming to Los Angeles."

   "Really, when are you coming?"

   "No, the agent has arranged it for me. I'm in Los Angeles for the audition, and I'll call you when the time comes."

   "That's great, what role are you auditioning for?"

   "It's the role that all Hollywood actresses want."

   Ronald called his agent to find out what role Helen was auditioning for.

   "It should be Italian director Leon's ten-year film "OnceUponATimeinAmerica" ​​Richard answered his question.

   Almost all actresses between the ages of 18 and 30 have auditioned for this film. Leon even turned down the directorship of "The Godfather" for this film.

  From younger Deborah Wenger to older Susan Sarandon. And former actress Sissy Spacek, best supporting actress Mel Streep, all went to audition for the leading actress.

   And he is more familiar with the younger generation of actresses who have worked with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Lane, Brooke Shields, etc., and they all went to audition.

   called Diane and Brooke, and Ronald found out that actresses under eighteen were also auditioning. Diane and Brooke both went to audition for a younger version of the heroine, Deborah.

  The director has great ambitions and has raised 30 million US dollars to shoot scenes in America, Italy, Canada and other places. It is a masterpiece beyond the "Godfather".

   But this has nothing to do with Ronald, he can't come into contact with such a big production yet.

   In addition, after Nisita's operation in Coppola, Ronald was able to enter the final round of interviews for the director's apprenticeship qualification of "The Outer Boy", and went to watch Coppola's films on the spot to learn from the master.

   "Francis is a proud man, I have no way to influence his decision, and ultimately it depends on your interview performance.

   But I think you should have an advantage. The other directors who go to interview are mainly small productions for small companies. There are not many theatrical films like you who have made seven major studios. "

  Nisita is giving Ronald a face-to-face interview. Because they were apprentices with the top three directors in Hollywood today, many descendants of the second generation of stars and production company executives were also put into the final interview.

   "Coppola's 'Diorama' company is in a dire financial situation, and he doesn't even pay the screenwriter and original author of the novel, Ms. Hinton.

   Therefore, Coppola does not only use this project as an apprentice for the director's union to pay wages. He will request it by selecting assistant directors. Someone like you who has actual shooting experience is exactly what he needs. "

   "There are five candidates in total, and you are the last."

   I came to the interview for the apprentice director, which was the office in the 'Diorama Studio' in Los Angeles. This studio is where Coppola shot "Old Love, New Love".

   The film failed at the box office, and was withdrawn by the theater within a week of its release. If the studio could not pay the rent for a while, it would be taken back by the owner.

   "I'm Ronald, Ronald Lee, for an interview."

   "Okay, Mr. Li, you can go in."

   "Am I not the last one in line?" Ronald looked at his watch, he was not late, why did Coppola interview people so quickly?

   pushed the door open, and inside was a small screening hall. The first two rows of seats were full of people who came for interviews. Coppola sat on the top, and Ms. SE Hinton, the novelist and screenwriter.

   Ronald was about to come up to say hello, when he heard an assistant come over to announce the start of the interview.

   "Is this? Coppola interviewed like this?" Ronald said, "I thought I would be called to interview individually. If we interviewed together, all the candidates who participated in the interview could hear the other people's answers."

   "Why are you here to apply for the position of apprentice director?" Coppola helped his large black-rimmed glasses and casually began to ask the first candidate a question.

   "I want to learn from the greatest directors in the world."

   "Do you like my movie? Which one do you like the most?"

   "My favorite is 'The Godfather'."

   "How about you?" Coppola asked the second candidate.

  "My favorite 'Rain Clan'"

   At first glance, this is a die-hard fan of Coppola, and he has even seen the niche movies filmed by Coppola.

"Oh why?"

   "Because..." The second candidate said a lot about his preferred method of performance and narrative.

   "What about you? What do you like?" Coppola asked the third.

   "I like 'The Godfather 2' the most, because he is unparalleled in the use of flashbacks throughout the film." The third candidate has learned the original meaning of rushing to answer.

  Coppola looked at the fourth candidate, a girl, the niece of a high-ranking Warner Bros. Coppola knew of her existence in advance.

   "I like your 'The Godfather' and 'Apocalypse Now' the most. Because The Godfather uses the author's film approach to the traditional Warner Bros. gangster movie.

   And Apocalypse Now is a profoundly anti-war movie. You were the first to shoot the Vietnam War theme... At that time, only the Chinese people could accept your anti-war theme, and they deserved the Palme d'Or..."

  Girls talk about Coppola's movies, and they can't stop once they start.

   Francis Coppola had to raise his hand to ask her to stop. "Apocalypse Now" was the movie I wanted to make, but it was also the main culprit in the financial troubles of the diorama.

   It took a whole year of filming to experience the protagonist's heart attack, the typhoon that destroyed the studio, the government army's helicopter flight to suppress the rebellion, and the actor encountering a real tiger in the jungle... and so on.

  Compared with the "Godfather", Coppola spent a lot of effort on "Apocalypse Now".

   "What about you? What do you think? You like that movie of mine?" Coppola looked at the last candidate and flipped through the names on the list, "Ronald?"

   This is also the person recommended by the new broker to himself. However, there is only one quota paid by the director's union, and I can only choose one of them to give me an idea.

  Young people always have some wild ideas. This movie is about young people. It is better to have a young person in the crew.

   Ronald didn't think Coppola's interview was so casual, thought about it, and replied:

   "Apocalypse Now."

   "Do you like it because it's anti-war?" Coppola looked at Ronald, who remembered the name.

  Universal's high-level Tanin once let himself watch his film, a typical Roger Coleman-style exploitative film. I wonder if his penchant for making movies is as boring as Roger Coleman.

   "Apocalypse Now" is not anti-war, where does it come from? He didn't see any tendency to be anti-war, but Coppola himself said in Cannes that the movie was anti-war, and no one knew what he thought. If what he said did not conform to his heart...

   "Ronald?" The fat Hinton sitting next to him called his name, reminding himself not to think too long, Coppola had already turned his attention to the script.

   "I don't think 'Apocalypse Now' is a war movie"

   Never mind, Ronald expressed his true opinion.

   "Oh?" Coppola raised his head, an unexpected answer. All the film critics praised Apocalypse Now's anti-war ideology, and some people thought it praised war, but they did not get rid of the theme of war. This young man had his own ideas.

   "What's the subject of the movie then?" Coppola asked.

   The niece of the executive next to him looked at Ronald a little pity for his situation. This person was amazing, because it was the last person's turn to answer the question, and the answer was finished by the person in front. As a last resort.

   Fortunately, he answered in front of him, and he prepared the newspaper and magazine columns in advance, and all the film reviews of Coppola's films, and studied for a long time before he could talk freely. If it also falls to the last answer, it is estimated that it is not much better than him.

   "I think it's essentially a psychological thriller."

   "Huh?" The executive's niece was also quite surprised.

  Thriller is a genre film. He is different from horror films, which often use monsters that suddenly jump out to scare you, while thrillers use pre-set suspense to scare you.

The classic representatives of   thrillers are those classic Hitchcock movies. The suspense is set in advance, and the audience knows from the beginning what kind of opponent the protagonist will face, but the protagonist himself often does not know.

   "Apocalypse Now, I think, is actually about a man fighting a beast in his subconscious," Ronald continued.

   "What nonsense are you talking about, 'Apocalypse Now' is obviously a war movie, so what does it have to do with a thriller?" A fellow interviewee couldn't help but scolded Ronald.

   "No, he's not a war movie." Ronald said his thoughts, but his thoughts became more and more clear.

   "A war movie must have a war scene. Every war scene is bigger and bigger, and the scene at the end is the biggest.

   And the scale of war in Apocalypse Now is getting smaller and smaller. From the helicopter war at the beginning, to the steamboat attack and defense, and finally to Colonel Coates's site, it became a cold weapon war.

   And the last scene..."

   Ronald said this, glanced at Coppola, and found that he was looking at him with interest.

"In the climax of the last scene, we only see the duel between the protagonist Willard and the dark villain Colonel Coates in the dim light. This is actually a metaphor. In the end, rationality overcomes the subconscious animal nature. Finish."

   "But isn't this the theme of anti-war? War has caused indelible wounds to people's hearts." The niece of Warner Bros. executives was also attracted by Ronald's statement and refuted it.

"Anti-war films have a lot of traumatic depictions of people and soldiers that these 'Apocalypse Now' don't have. In fact, I think the climactic scene illustrates the nature of a film. It doesn't describe the effects of war on soldiers. Damage to normal human emotions such as family affection and love.”

   "Of course, this is just my personal interpretation. The charm of classics is that they can be interpreted from different aspects." Ronald finally added that he didn't want to argue with his interview opponent anymore and ended his speech.

   "Okay, that's it for the interview. My assistant will inform you of the results tomorrow."

  Coppola stopped looking at several interviewers, and the assistant next to him came over and asked them out.

   "Is Ronald right?" Hinton, the novelist, was very interested in what they had just discussed. Seeing that Coppola had circled the names of Ronald and the executive's niece, he asked.

   "There are always many interpretations of the classics." Coppola replied with a smile.

   (end of this chapter)