Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 823 Tokyo Film Festival Best Actor

   Tokyo's Okura Hotel is a Japanese-style hotel specially built for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. All the interior decorations here are in traditional Eastern Ying style, which contrasts strongly with the modern hotels on the outside.

   "Good morning sir, welcome, Ronaldo-san, huh, Dianessan. Please come with me, the room is ready."

  The waiter, wearing spotless white gloves and gown, bowed deeply, then got up to welcome Ronald and Diane into their reserved suite.

When Ronald arrived in the suite, there was a translucent window on the wall of the living room. The reflection of the bamboo forest outside the window reflected into the room. With the tatami on the floor and the low coffee table, there really was a harmony between the West and the East. temperament.

   "Thank you," Ronald took out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans, took a $20 bill and passed it over.

   "You're welcome, Ronald, please call me anytime if you need anything." The waiter didn't take the tip, but bowed to Ronald again, turned around and walked out.

   "Eastern people think that their service is of high quality, generally exceeding the level of the West. You tip is an insult to their service." Diane, also wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, came up to explain the case. She has stayed in Dongying for a long time, and has shot a lot of commercials. She knows more about the customs here than Ronald.

   "My fault", Ronald smiled and put away his wallet. The interior of this hotel is a little old, but it is well maintained.

  Steve Bannon persuaded him to stay here, one of the three most prestigious luxury hotels in Tokyo.

   And the chaebol of Dongying learned that he lived in this hotel, which was very close to the emperor's imperial residence, only a 20-minute walk away, so he would have an idea of ​​Ronald's strength. This is the highest representative of the Hefeng Hotel. Now the entrepreneurial consortium of Dongying has views on the entrepreneurs of America, and they can respect their culture, which will be beneficial to the financing that will be discussed next.

   "Let's go down to have some brunch. I heard that the Chinese cuisine here is very good." After sorting out with Di An, the two went down to eat hand in hand.

   Pass by the wide lobby, the walls are decorated with diamond rhombus texture, and there are four musicians playing the chamber music quartet in front. Musicians in suits and female listeners in traditional kimonos. With the simple geometric shape of the interior, and the strings of lanterns hanging from the ceiling, Ronald felt that there was a moment when the East and the West coexisted wonderfully.

   When we arrived at the restaurant, Ronald of course ordered the hair-style toast that Bannon highly recommended.

   "Sir, today's reservations are sold out." The restaurant waiter bowed again and told Ronald that he would like to be early tomorrow. The toast here has a fixed amount, and it's gone when it's done.

"Do you have to make an appointment for toast? What the hell, come up with what you have." Ronald shook off the napkin and laid it on. The Eastern Ying people just have a pursuit of form. In fact, if a dessert is difficult to make, it is not good Well.

   "The toast here is really good, but it usually comes in the morning." A familiar voice spoke English and said behind Ronald.

   "Huh? Mr. Pike. Why are you here?" Ronald looked back, and in a corner was slowly enjoying the hair-style toast, it was the famous American movie star, Gregory Pike. He was wearing a dark blue navy coat, light-colored trousers, a red tie, large glasses, silver hair, and a handsome demeanor.

   "Do you mind if we go together?" Ronald asked Gregory Pike.

   "Come here, little Ronald, we didn't see each other when I went to Huaguo last time. I also watched your latest movie. It was very good."

  Gregory Pike waved, the waiter hurried over to move the chair, and Ronald and Diane sat at his table together.

   "You're still in good spirits." Ronald looked at him and said.

"I'm here to be a judge at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and you're here too?" Gregory Peck pushed the hair-style toast he ordered to Diane, and poured a cup of maple syrup on it. .

   "Thanks, um... so delicious, like a soufflé." Diane started shouting, this toast is really delicious.

   "They soak the bread in the egg wash for 24 hours, then fry it and then bake it, so you need to come early to eat it." Gregory Pike is 70, and watching Diane is like watching a granddaughter.

  "I didn't come to participate in the film festival", Ronald replied with a smile, "I came to do the distribution of the hot dance, in fact, I didn't know there was a film festival in Tokyo with a competition unit."

   "You don't know it's normal. This is the second time they have held. It is the only A-level film festival in East Asia that has a competition unit, regardless of genre. They asked me to be the chairman of the jury, just to expand their influence."

   "Mr. Pike, if you come to be the chairman, it will be fair." Ronald couldn't help but think of Cannes this year, when the chairman made a mess of the awards.

   "Well, I'm glad you said that, but we all know they're just because my appearance fee is cheap."

"Hahaha…"

   Ronald smiled. Gregory Peck still has such a sense of humor. He has been semi-retired and has not made many movies in recent years. He likes to travel around the world and watch movies from other places.

   "Are there any good movies that have participated in the competition in recent years?"

"Let me tell you, there is really a Chinese movie, which moved me very much. It was directed by a young man surnamed Wu. The technique and camera language are a bit backward, but it is very simple and powerful, and the actor is also very good. It has the power to make me see a different movie.

   was the Briton on the jury, who always made trouble with me. He made a lot of suggestions, but none of them could hinder my determination. "

   "I heard that the chairman of the jury has a lot of power?" Ronald didn't know how the film festival worked. He just spoke from the Cannes awards farce he had experienced.

   "I have a lot of power, but I can only persuade them, not make my own decisions. Would you like to come and watch this movie? I can throw out your opinion as a reference during the meeting."

"I may disagree with you, I will only speak according to my own opinion." Ronald didn't eat the hair-style toast, and joked with Gregory Pike who occupied the last two servings .

"Haha, of course. Americans are free to express their opinions. But I strongly doubt that your aesthetics are the same as mine. The words you said last time in China won my heart. Movies are not just Hollywood. A way of shooting."

   "Well, there are government-funded ones like Hairu, which I don't understand either."

   "Hahaha..." Diane laughed, took a piece of toast with a fork and put it in Ronald's mouth.

   "Yeah, it's really delicious." Ronald also felt that Chef Dongying put more effort into such a small dish than the main dish.

   "Well, Mr. Pike, if there's still a screening of that movie, I'll watch it and write down my opinion for you."

   "Of course, I will let them show you a special show. This is a story of a citizen in northwest China who has been digging wells to find water for hundreds of years, and has continued to fail."

"Sounds good," Ronald ate omelettes Benedict, "these easterners make an English breakfast, and it's better than the Britons. By the way, the one who went against you on the jury Who are the British?"

   "Alan Parker, British Londoner."

   "It's him, no wonder." Ronald didn't expect to meet the "famous" director in Tokyo. Why didn't he make a movie and came to Tokyo.

   Ronald agreed to Gregory Pike, and then waited at the hotel for Bannon, who had just returned from the American embassy next door.

   "Tomorrow we'll go to see the staff of Kadokawa Bookstore and Johnny's Office."

   "Okay, let's get in touch with them first, by the way, what are you doing at the embassy."

   "A lot of things on Wall Street and overseas need the assistance of the embassy." Bannon replied, "How do you arrange the evening? I will go to meet my former friends."

   "I also went to see an old friend and met Gregory Pike, who is now holding a film festival here, and he is a judge."

   "Ah...Isn't 'Her Royal Highness' coming?" Bannon is also a big fan of old movies starring Audrey Hepburn and Parker.

   "I haven't heard of it."

  …

   Ronald, together with Diane, came to the place that Parker said in the evening, and watched a Chinese movie specially.

  The movie with only subtitles and Chinese lines is called "Old Well". Diane can't understand it. Ronald sometimes translates some plots for her.

   But the power of the movie itself is very powerful, and Diane's own guessed plot is inseparable. The rhythm of this film is not fast, and the audio-visual language is a little behind compared with the great development of Hollywood in recent years.

   Ronald and Diane looked at the front and could guess where the plot was going. Rao is so, the performances of the actor and the two heroines, as well as the performances of the supporting actors, are all excellent, hitting the common heart of mankind.

In the end, the male protagonist-name translates as "conducive to the well water (Wangquan, relying on the dowry earned from his first love's marriage, and the dowry of the widow's wife, finally the well water is produced, and the camera ends at the edge of the well more than 100 Over the years, because of the failure of drilling wells, the name of the ancestors, and the name of the protagonist finally appeared at the end, success!

  Diane couldn't understand the lines, and was moved to tears.

   Ronald even felt that the simplicity of this movie was the most powerful force. If the performance of the actor is powerful enough, it can replace the skill and story, and also move the audience.

   "I agree with you, I think this is a very moving movie, especially the simplicity of the hero Yimou with strength, his silence, more than his lines, can move the audience."

   Ronald wrote a short review and called the waiters to deliver to Gregory Pike.

"Ronald, I knew you would agree with me." Pike called early the next morning, and he was very satisfied with Ronald's comments, "Tomorrow I will put you in the final ballot. A year of comments can shatter the Britannia idea..."

  "I'm glad to be able to help." Ronald put down the phone, tidied up his clothes, went out to find Bannon, and went with him to make appointments with the president of Kadokawa Bookstore and Johnny's Office.

  …

   "Ronald, old friends meet again."

  Kadokawa Haruki, and Johnny Kitagawa met Ronald at a private sushi restaurant.

   There is only one table of guests at noon every day. Basically, senior executives of big companies and some politicians can make appointments. Ordinary people can only wait for time, and lucky people can show off in the circle of friends for a long time.

   "Hello, how is the Dongying movie market now?"

  Ronald got straight to the point. He wanted to sell the movie to Dongying, and he also wanted to bring in Dongying investors.

"You don't know yet, in the past two months, Japan and the United States have been fighting fiercely over the chip issue. NEC, Toshiba, Fuji and other companies are considering whether to give up the America market because of the dynamic memory chip issue. ."

   "What chip?" Ronald looked at Bannon.

   "Dram, a type of chip in a computer, is now manufactured in Dongying at a much lower cost than ours, so those old men in Congress have to start dancing the big stick of sanctions again."

"In the beginning, it was textiles, then electrical appliances, then automobiles, and now chips. America's free trade concept was not like this when dealing with East Ying." Kadokawa Haruki is Japanese, and he retains American Unlike Johnny Kitagawa, he said straight to the point about the current form of friction between Japan and the United States.

   "Now we pro-American industrialists are under great pressure to operate in Dongying." Johnny Kitagawa also said next to him.

   "Free trade is two-way, your teacher prevented our films and other cultural products from entering the Eastern market, and our intellectual property products have been pirated by a large number of you"

"Don't say you don't know", Ronald stopped the two entrepreneurs who wanted to refute, "The strongest product of Dongying now is the game console, and most of the characters in it are copied from Hollywood. For example, that King Kong, and your latest Contra, the two protagonists are obviously Schwarzenegger and Mr. Stallone."

   "We're not here to quarrel, right? We're here to discuss cooperation." Johnny Kitagawa also understands that the agreement signed by the two countries is actually trying their best to use various secret methods to not cooperate.

  Dongying is a vertically integrated market, and several big financial giants control many industrial chains. Take the film industry here, for example, bookstores and newspapers are the controlling shareholders of several major producers, and then control most of the theater chains.

   On the one hand, they secretly told the movie theater owners not to release or reduce the number of copies of movies in Hollywood, and on the other hand, they told the people responsible for the American Film Association that this is the spontaneous choice of movie theaters under the free market.

   "Of course, how do you think we can make Dongying's 'audience' accept our Hollywood movies?"

"Why don't you make some movies with Japan and rice?" Kadokawa Haruki raised an idea, "We Dongying people can't just be ridiculous villains in Hollywood movies, but also have some positive images. And Hollywood is in Dongying. There are still too few movies, as long as you are willing to cooperate, we have people here who are willing to invest.”

   Ronald and Bannon looked at each other, this method is better than what they discussed, isn't it just to get a few positive characters of Dongying, and put part of the story in the modern Dongying.

  …

   "Happy cooperation", the two presidents talked with Ronald and Bannon about a framework for cooperation, and they will continue to invite Ronald to the site of Kitagawa to watch their artist performances.

   Ronald declined the invitation, saying it could be postponed for a few days. He was going to go back with Diane to see the results of Mr. Gregory Peck's scheming.

   "Did Ansang come too? Why don't you let her be the presenter at this film festival?" Kitagawa and Kadokawa, two bigwigs, also have a great say in the film festival. In a few words, it was decided that Diane would be the guest of honor for the best actor in the film festival, which would greatly enhance the influence of the film festival.

   After leaving the hotel, Ronald pulled Bannon aside, "You went to the embassy yesterday, who did you meet?"

   "Don't be like this, I'm just an acquaintance in the business department. Now the chip friction between the United States and Japan is very sharp, and the agreement is about to be triggered. All American businessmen who come here must inquire and report the situation."

   "Okay, don't play too much", Ronald understood, Bannon doesn't seem like a simple Wall Street banker.

  …

   "Has the ad for the diamond ring finished?" Ronald returned to the hotel and had dinner with Diane.

   "There are still a few to shoot tomorrow, I dyed my blonde hair on purpose, you see", Diane showed Ronald the blonde show.

   "Why don't you stop tomorrow, they invite you to be the presenter of the film festival."

   "Oh, really? I haven't given an award yet? What project is the award for, and who is the winner?"

   "I don't know, I'll ask." Ronald dialed the switchboard and asked them to transfer to Gregory Pike.

   "Mr. Pike, Diane will be the best actor award presenter. Let me ask you if your vote has any result?"

"My boy, your review has been a big help. I won big, Best Film, and Best Actor, both for 'Old Well', the Britons only got one Special Jury Prize, and the most Great heroine."

   "Oh, who is that?" Ronald also felt happy for Huaguo Film after hearing Parker's announcement. Director Wu and leading actor Yimou can both win awards. I heard that this is Huaguo's first best actor in many years, and a film festival award.

  I don't know who the heroine is?

   "Australia's Rachel Ward, her new film 'The Umbrella Woman' needs a balance."

   Well, we are acquaintances again. Ronald felt that Ward's new film was not very good, so he had to come to this new film festival to expand its influence.

   (end of this chapter)