Chapter 207 201 Birds and Fish, One Soars in the Sky, the Other in the Deep
Chapter 203 Birds and fish, one soars in the sky, the other dives deep into the sea
After more than a month, the Arclight Cinema in Los Angeles, following "Transformers", Eric's second film this year, "Blue Is the Warmest Color", also premiered.
Unlike the overwhelming publicity of "Transformers", "Blue Is the Warmest Color" is not suitable for large-scale publicity. Even from the establishment of the film project to the start of filming, and then to the end of filming, it has always been kept strictly confidential.
Although homosexual themes are not as taboo as before, they are still not a popular topic. The LGBT trend will take more than ten years to rise.
From the major film festivals, Europe is relatively open to homosexual themes, and the Oscars are more conservative than Europe.
In the past few decades, there were homosexual films nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, but none of them won the grand prize.
Even the popular theme "Brokeback Mountain" was so well shot, but it lost to "Crash" in the end.
But is "Brokeback Mountain" really not as good as "Crash"?
The media and many people think that this is not the case. It is more because the atmosphere was not open at that time, and the Oscar judges would also judge the situation and dare not break the secular shackles.
By 2017, "Moonlight Boy" unexpectedly defeated "Manchester by the Sea", "Hacksaw Ridge", "La La Land" and other excellent films, and won the Best Picture Award.
Because the social thoughts were already surging at that time, the Oscars naturally followed the trend and made a decision that most people did not expect.
In 2018, the jury was obviously bolder and actually awarded the grand prize to "The Shape of Water". A woman fell in love with an amphibian species, which is no longer a love between people.
In countries outside the United States, do you dare to believe that this thing can beat "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"?
The biggest reason why "The Shape of Water" won the award is nothing more than political correctness, and the views it conveyed are too consistent with the white left.
From the development trend of the Oscars in recent years, we can see how much impact the changes in social atmosphere have on a movie.
Movie people still have a certain pursuit and understanding of art, but they dare not openly go against the will of the public.
Not to mention ordinary people, there are many people who are prejudiced against gay movies and even against homosexuals.
This is especially true in conservative states such as South Carolina, where religion dominates society.
So even though gay movies are being filmed every year, they will not be screened on a large scale. Some theater owners will refuse, which is difficult.
Most of them choose to screen them in dozens of theaters on a small scale first. If the response is good, they will gradually expand the scale, but there are only a handful of theaters that can exceed 1,000 theaters.
"Brokeback Mountain", a leader, was only screened in more than 600 theaters in the end, which was really a lot of resistance.
With MGM's influence, it helped the theaters make a lot of money even though almost all the movies released in the past year were profitable.
Therefore, the theater owners were willing to give Eric face, and the premiere barely reached 500 theaters. This was the result of many negotiations, which was the limit.
In view of various special reasons, today is more of a symbolic ceremony than a premiere.
There was no red carpet, no stars were invited, only a large number of film critics came, some were invited by MGM, and some came on their own initiative.
Everyone wanted to see what this strictly confidential film was like?
The lights went down, Eric sat in the middle, with Ashley and Mary on his left and right.
This was the first time the two women had appeared in public for the film in a few months. Feeling their nervousness, Eric gently drew circles on their palms.
On the big screen, the story officially began, the first part - meeting.
Under the bright sunshine, with Adele's appearance, many film critics' eyes lit up.
This unmade-up look completely subverted Ashley's past image, turning her from a cute cool girl to an ordinary girl that can be seen everywhere in daily life.
Kyle Kinsby, a film critic in the entertainment column of the San Francisco Post, nodded secretly. As a woman, she liked this change of the actress, which would make the movie more lifelike.
And a good art film should have this kind of atmosphere, and the movie had a good start.
In the following minutes, Adele's daily life began to be shown, with an ordinary family, an ordinary school, an ordinary class, and a few gossiping girlfriends.
If there is a little bright spot, it is that there is a male classmate who admires her.
"Hi Adele! Can I sit here?"
On the bus, the male classmate played by James McAvoy appeared. He did not have the domineering president style in commercial movies, nor did he have the pointing and pointing of others. It was just a simple greeting, just like our lives.
There was a hint of embarrassment and shyness in his expression, as if he was worried about the girl's rejection, which made his image completely different from the American soldiers in "Transformers".
Many people have just finished watching "Transformers", and the resolute roar at the time of death is still echoing in their minds.
As a result, looking at his current screen image, the contrast makes it difficult for many people to accept, but they have to admit that this young man has acting skills.
Adele's love seems to have come, and the two began to date, but Adele was always absent-minded during the process, and seemed to be dissatisfied with this relationship.
When the two were dating, Mary, with short blue hair, appeared with a girl in her arms. In the midst of their stunned encounter, they fell in love at first sight.
Many film critics immediately noticed something was wrong. According to their experience, the plot seemed to be developing in an unexpected direction.
Sure enough, Adele returned home and lay alone in bed. The scene in her dream was not with her boyfriend.
Adele woke up and was at a loss.
Dating with her boyfriend became more and more difficult. She felt more and more uncomfortable and could only confide in a strange mutual aid group.
"I feel something is wrong."
"You two should break up if you are not in harmony."
"No, it's not his problem, it's me. I feel like I'm missing something."
"I am very slow in the relationship between men and women. I lean on his shoulder, but it's like a bird and a fish, one flying in the sky and the other diving deep in the sea."
"It uses Tagore's poems, beautiful lines!" Seeing this, many film critics couldn't help but admire it in their hearts.
Finally, Adele couldn't go against her inner wishes and chose to break up with her boyfriend.
"Adele, I don't understand. Did I not do enough?"
"No, it's my own problem."
The two hugged each other and cried bitterly. One was crying for her lost love, and the other was brave enough to be herself because of guilt.
After breaking up, she began to look for the girl who made her dream, and the two finally met in a gay bar.
"Choose to love you!"
The movie lasted for more than half an hour, and Adele and Emma, the desire hidden in the deepest part of their hearts burst out.
In the cinema, many people exclaimed, not because the sex scene was too large.
The largest scale presented on the screen, and then some close-ups of the face, Eric edited it without exposing any nipples.
If nipples are exposed, it will be classified as NC17, and minors are prohibited from watching, which greatly affects the audience size.
If nipples are not exposed, it will be R-rated. Minors can at least watch it with the accompaniment of their parents. This parental accompaniment is a very vague term, and it can be counted as brothers, cousins, and distant relatives.
The audience was surprised because Ashley and Mary are sisters. They are not two unrelated actresses, but have a blood relationship.
This relationship is paired with fascinating pictures. Even if it is just a taste, the impact it brings is far greater than those explicit pictures.
"OMG!"
"Oh my God!"
"How did Eric Cooper convince them?"
The film critics of NBC and ABC looked at each other and read the surprise in each other's eyes.
Throughout the history of movies, there has never been a similar situation.
How to shoot? Won't it be embarrassing on the set? Will there be no psychological barriers?
With such thoughts, everyone's attention is highly focused, more focused than watching any movie.
The movie also entered the second part - love.
Adele and Emma, the color of the picture becomes brighter and brighter, and both of them show the brightest smile.
But behind the laughter, there are hidden dangers. The environment they are in can be said to be very different.
Emma lives in an artistic family. Her parents are open-minded and her friends encourage her to pursue true love and show her true self.
But Adele's family is conservative. Most of her parents and friends are opposed to homosexuality.
The huge difference in environment caused conflicts in their lives, especially Adele didn't dare to reveal her feelings to her parents, which led to their first quarrel.
Then the movie entered the third chapter - differences.
Facing Emma's circle of friends, especially about art, Adele couldn't get a word in at all. She watched Emma chatting and laughing with others like an outsider.
And she could only clean up the kitchen silently, with disappointment written on her face, but the excited Emma didn't notice.
The two lacked communication. Adele liked to be passive and kept things in her heart.
Emma was a little nervous, she didn't notice it, just focused on her career.
After a while, the pressure of not being able to fit in the circle made Adele bored, especially when she saw that Emma made her feel uncomfortable because of work.
In a trance, she agreed to the pursuit of a male colleague. The male colleague wanted to go further but was stopped by the sober Adele and could only send her home.
But this scene was captured by Emma, and the two ushered in the outbreak of contradictions.
The movie also entered the fourth chapter - sinking.
After the breakup, both of them were in pain, but it was not only because of misunderstandings, but also because their lifestyles and ideological pursuits were too far apart.
A year later, Adele changed into more professional clothes and a more mature hairstyle, and the two met again.
"How have you been doing during this period?"
"Well, how about you?"
"Same as before, you changed your hairstyle."
"Looks a little old, doesn't it?"
"No, very beautiful, the previous hairstyle was too messy."
"Are you still with that girl?"
"Well, Liz gave birth to a child and we raised it together."
"How are you doing? With her?"
Faced with this question, Emma hesitated for a long time.
"Boring? Boring? Or?"
Emma looked into Adele's eyes: "Anyway, it's different from you."
The two suddenly held hands together.
"Can we start over?"
Emma was silent.
"You haven't forgiven me yet?"
"No, I've forgotten those things, they're not important!"
The two looked at each other silently, tears streaming down their eyes at the same time, choking and crying as they expressed their longing.
If that quarrel was an emotional outburst, this scene was an outburst of restraint and repression, both of which were very difficult.
For these two scenes, Eric spent a lot of effort. It was very laborious to train these two sisters.
At the end of the movie, Adele came to Emma and Liz's exhibition, chatted with them calmly, and left calmly.
No one knew why she came, and no one noticed when she quietly left.
Suddenly!
As the movie ended, the lights in the theater came on again.
But the expected applause did not appear, and the faces of hundreds of people present were complicated.
Ashley and Mary's hearts suddenly beat. What does this mean?
Silent protest?
They thought of the bad situation. After all, it was really horrifying for sisters to go to the battle.
But when it really happened, they were still a little at a loss.
At the critical moment, Eric pulled the two people together and took a group of main creators to the stage. The process still had to be completed, even if Eric had to be scolded and sprayed. He could not lose the battle.
After going up, I found that some seats in the audience were empty. It was definitely not because of the length, because Eric compressed the original 3-hour plot into more than two hours.
If it's not because of the length, it's either not to their taste, or they hate this subject matter, or they hate this group.
On the high platform, looking at the film critics and the audience not far away, the two sides looked at each other silently. Today's ceremony was simple, there were no stars, and Eric naturally did not invite a host.
Seeing that indulging in it was not a solution, Andrea picked up the microphone and prepared to wade through the mines first.
Eric gave her the opportunity to be a director, and she knew how to return the favor.
Clap!
But just as she was about to speak, a crisp applause rang out from the audience.
Clap!
Then the second and third people who applauded appeared.
Clap, clap, clap
Suddenly, most people began to applaud, and warm applause instantly filled the hall.
The hanging heart fell to the ground, and everyone on the stage breathed a sigh of relief.
But not everyone liked it. Amid the applause, Eric saw some audience members get up and leave.
Counting those who left in the middle, there were about sixty or seventy people who left before watching the whole thing.
Mixed praise and criticism, controversy is coming!