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Helming Hollywood

Levin, who had experienced ups and downs in the entertainment industry in his previous life came to Hollywood in 1996 from 2014. It's a slow-paced novel. Unofficial translation of the novel by heracross. Raw version can be found at https://www.uukanshu.com/b/24330/. You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.

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Classics and Art

The announcement of the various awards of the Golden Globes is equivalent to the countdown to the arrival of the Oscars. And at the Golden Globe Awards this time, the two films 'Saving Private Ryan' and Emily lived up to expectations and won the most honors, which is also convincing.

Of course, award season isn't over yet, and a few other things are also happening. Generally speaking, after an award is awarded, many people like to complain about the films that did not win the award.

For example, after the Oscars in 1994, many people complained about 'The Shawshank Redemption,' but they didn't know that the Oscars of that year was basically a competition between 'Forrest Gump' and 'Pulp Fiction,' and 'The Shawshank Redemption' was basically running with them.

This kind of grievance, in fact, does not mean that if you are a loser, you must be better than the winner. It's just that when several movies are good, even if the one that is compared is slightly worse, many people will like it, and if they do not get the honor, naturally, some people complain.

And this time, Winona was also prepared after the Golden Globe Awards. If someone complained about 'Shakespeare in Love,' she should fight back quickly so as not to affect the Oscars.

However, after the Golden Globe Awards, the situation is very surprising.

"Emily won a Golden Globe, which was to be expected.

This year's rom-com has several movies that are all good. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks's 'You've Got Mail' is sweet, and people love it, and 'There's Something About Mary' is hilarious, and it's also a miracle at the box office.

In contrast, 'Shakespeare in Love' can be said to be a drama-like life, a perfect combination of drama and love, but the best movie is still Emily.

This is the perfect movie for girls. It tells how to find happiness in loneliness. It is the kind of romantic fairy tale that can touch everyone's heart inadvertently. What other film can win an award if such a movie won't win?"

The victory came too suddenly. It also caught Winona a little off guard.

"It's unexpected that the media's comments are so one-sided."

Looking at the media's comments, Winona was also a little puzzled. Although she also thinks that Emily is better, she doesn't understand why the public opinion on 'Shakespeare in Love' was so bad and her prepared counterattack was in vain.

"Their movie can be regarded as an art movie; why are there so few people in the media who speak for them. "

"What kind of art is that?" After seeing the media's comments, Levi just smiled, "This kind of victory is easy, and there is only one reason: because the opponent's movie is a dedicated flattery movie, they don't pursue art at all. Their goal is to please the Oscars, so the awards can be won. But movies that please the awards may not be good for public opinion."

"A fawning movie?" Winona was a little puzzled.

In fact, every year, for any award, this kind of film will be specially made for the awards. There are tastes in film awards, and people can naturally try to figure out their preferences and shoot movies. Levi has seen this kind of thing a lot.

In fact, the United States is not bad, but there are a lot of such cases in other countries. In order to win awards, some people have dedicated years to filming the bad things in the country to please foreign judges. In contrast, for the sake of filming, some people filmed their history as a red-light district and dared to openly declare that it was because 'Hollywood likes big breasts.'

What Weinstein did was actually this kind of thing; his brain is better, and he can grasp the lifeblood of the judges more accurately, but it doesn't mean how noble he is.

For such works, Levi does not think it is art. Art comes from life, is higher than life, pretends to groan, and shows off its charm; what kind of art is it?

"'Shakespeare in Love' is actually pretty good, but because its intention is to please the critics, it will inevitably be a little divorced from the public during the filming process. The drama style is not appreciated by everyone, and Shakespeare should not be a movie protagonist; it's okay to play something new for a while, but compared with the real classic movies, they are nothing compared to."

"Do you think that what you shoot is a classic?" After listening to Levi's words, Winona replied, "Where does the confidence come from?"

"The confidence given to me by the public." Levi tilted his head, "My movies are appreciated by the public."

"You are shooting literary films." Winona reminded.

"So what? Literary films also need public support."

What is a film? This is a difficult question to articulate.

Some people say movies only make money; if the box office is high and the audience is large, it is a good movie. But after all, Levi has experienced many bad movies. If he admits that such things as good movies, he feels he is really talking against his conscience.

Movies certainly aren't something that's made entirely to make money. If you can accept anything for the sake of money, then you look down on the entire film industry.

Moreover, Levi has witnessed the rise and fall of Hong Kong movies, such a glorious past, but in the end, it was ruined by a group of guys who did everything for money. A movie a week or a grassroots team in the TVB model seems to make money, but they are actually overdrawing the future.

So, a movie is a work of art?

Not quite.

Many directors of literary and artistic films believe that movies are works of art, just like calligraphy and painting works. They do not require everyone to appreciate them, but they require that movies must express their own thoughts. Anything that does not reflect thought is nothing, no matter how good it may be. These people's movies are not made for others to watch but for themselves.

Of course, the movies of this kind of people don't make much money. Woody Allen's highest box office in his lifetime is only 50 million.

Is this kind of thinking right?

Levi didn't think it was all right, or even worse. If no one understands the thoughts you reflect, it probably means that either your film is terrible or your thinking has problems...

"French film master Truffaut once said that there are two kinds of directors, and some directors will have the public in mind, while others don't consider the public at all. For the former, film is a performance art; for the latter, the film is a personal adventure." Levi thought for a moment before speaking, "Movies express art, so what is art?

If you say it carefully, art is to express the classic content in real life in an indirect way. Movies reflect life, so they are also art. However, art must be divorced from the public and society, and no one wants to see it? If this is the case, then there is something wrong with art itself.

If a work of art cannot make people think it is beautiful after seeing it, but only after seeing its price tag and the author think it is beautiful, then this is not considered a successful work of art.

A film depends on who the director is; how about the movie reviews? Even if it is considered a good movie, if it is banned by the government, then this movie will fail.

Seeing the statue of David and Venus with Broken Arms, even people who don't understand the sculpture will think it is beautiful; at least, people can see the smooth lines and perfect proportions. Similarly, Mona Lisa or the Barge Haulers on the Volga are these classics; even those who do not know how to appreciate paintings after seeing them will be overwhelmed by the solemn and elegant temperament of the Mona Lisa and the exhaustion of the inhumane labor. Their own charm is there.

Not to mention music, good music transcends national borders; this has long been the consensus of the public.

The same is valid for movies. The public may not be able to appreciate the deep things, but the superficial things must be enjoyed by the people. Is it still an art to ignore the superficial for the sake of the deep?"

What did Winona understand, Levi was not sure, but he continued, "Some movies are too niche. Directors shoot things for themselves or for a small number of people. They don't care whether the public understands it or not. It's like those exhibitions of so-called artists that we ordinary people don't understand at all, and they don't care.

Even if Picasso's works are abstract, they must have such deep-rooted feelings as the dove of peace. Only those things that can resonate can be regarded as great artists recognized by the public.

Movies are art, but what they reflect should be great artists. The lives of most people. A film that does not reflect most people may be a work of art, but it cannot be a classic.

What do we want to pursue? Classic. Therefore, we shoot, that is, those movies that can make everyone resonate, such as Forrest Gump, Citizen Kane, and The Godfather. Their perfection is because they did not abandon the public's standards while pursuing artistry.

The art that is recognized by most people is the real art. It is wrong to think that art is divorced from the masses."

Looking at Winona, Levi laughed again, "Their one-sided pursuit of so-called artistry can be said to be the end of the game. Why do we win? Why do I have confidence? Isn't it because our movie is better? Their films need the Oscars but not ours - that's the difference, and that's why our film is a classic!"

*****

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