Chapter 163: Unpleasant Factors

[Chapter 163: Unpleasant Factors]

In a foggy mansion on a small island off the coast of England, the lady of the house, Grace, woke once again from a nightmare. She wiped her eyes and mustered her strength to start yet another busy day. With her husband away, she had to be strong.

For some unknown reason, the household staff had mysteriously disappeared a while back. So, Grace had put up an ad seeking new help, and today three people came for the job. There was an elderly gardener with white hair, a sprightly old woman, and a timid mute girl. The peculiar trio looked quite odd, but with no other applicants after such a long time, Grace accepted them and introduced the various rules of the mansion.

It seemed that the arrival of the three was linked to the strange occurrences that began happening around the house. Her daughter Anne claimed she saw a little boy, and Grace herself started hearing odd noises. Additionally, she noticed that the three new servants were often muttering to each other, as if plotting something, which made Grace increasingly uneasy.

One day, however, her husband, who had been off fighting in a war, returned home. Elated, Grace believed that with him back, life would get back on track. But her husband lacked the joy of reunion, instead growing sorrowful at the sight of Grace and the children. After a few days at home, he suddenly left again.

The strange happenings persisted, and coupled with her husband's departure, Grace's mental state continued to fray. One day, she discovered that all of the mansion's curtains had been removed. She had repeatedly emphasized that her sick children should not see sunlight, and in her fury, she blamed the three servants and chased them away.

One evening, the playful kids climbed out of their bedroom window and made their way into the backyard garden. When little Anne spotted three gravestones, she was horrified to discover the names inscribed were those of the new servants who had recently arrived in their home. At that moment, the three servants emerged from the shadows once more. Anne called for her brother and they ran towards the front door. Coincidentally, Grace, having uncovered the 'truth,' dashed out with a revolver, shielding her children as they returned to the mansion, blocking the three ghosts outside.

As Grace pleaded for the spirits to let her family be, the children upstairs suddenly screamed. Grace prayed as she climbed the staircase, pushing open a door. Through a seance conducted by a medium, she finally saw the reality: she and her two children were already dead.

Holding her children helplessly, the distraught mistress was forced to recall the sorrowful past. Amid the murmurs of Grace and her two children, the movie came to a close. The credits had yet to be made, so the lights in the screening room came on directly.

...

"How did it go, Eric?" Jonathan Demme asked, lacking confidence. Despite making substantial edits based on Eric's suggestions, Jonathan still felt uncertain whether Eric would be satisfied.

They wrapped filming in mid-June, and some post-production was done back in the UK because they occasionally needed to reshoot some scenes. The entire crew stayed in England until July before returning to the States.

After the wrap, Eric had visited the UK shooting set to check on the production and reviewed some footage Jonathan had shot. He was very pleased with Jonathan's results. Perhaps buoyed by Eric's earlier affirmation, Jonathan confidently presented his edited version -- the so-called director's cut -- believing it would be well-received by Eric.

However, reality hit Jonathan hard when Eric, frowning as he reviewed his cut, indicated for the staff to start the film over. He took notes at a rapid pace, and by the time the film finished screening again, Eric had already written over twenty notes detailing necessary changes, covering everything from shots to music to editing, basically dismissing Jonathan's entire cut.

While Jonathan was frustrated, he had to yield because he did not possess final cut rights, and ended up making significant modifications according to Eric's notes.

After implementing Eric's suggestions, Jonathan watched the final cut and recognized that this version indeed excelled over his original edit. Not only was the story far more tightly woven, but the suspense and psychological environment were far better established, which left Jonathan awed by this young man, who was over twenty years his junior.

Though Jonathan had prepared extensively for the director's position and proposed concepts that aligned with Eric's vision, many of his techniques still fell into the cliche of old-fashioned horror films. It wasn't a matter of Jonathan not wanting to adapt; many habitual elements weren't easily changed. Innovation was always easier said than done in any field.

When Jonathan asked Eric again, Eric didn't rush to answer. He leaned back in his seat, meticulously comparing the original film in his mind with the one he had just seen, determining the discrepancies and similarities. Eric had high hopes for the box office potential of this movie among the three films funded by Firefly Films. Thus, he was particularly invested in it.

The other film Steel Magnolias was under Herbert Ross's full control, and Eric wasn't involved in the editing of it at all. While Eric held final editing rights, he would be very respectful of Al Pacino's opinions when it came to post-production of Scent of a Woman. Compared to those, the production of this film seemed somewhat 'stubborn.' He knew completely dismissing Jonathan's director's cut would be damaging, but for the success of the film at the box office, it was a necessary step.

Eric's ability to list so many revisions after viewing Jonathan's cut wasn't merely due to talent; it was informed by the reference of the original film that played in his mind. 

For any film, even with the same script and materials, the differences in editing by different people could be significant. Eric had heard of cases where someone edited a classic serious historical film into a ridiculous comedy, changing nothing but the order of shots. Thus, he did not require a perfect replica of what he remembered; after all, the previous version also had flaws -- like the scene of Grace's husband returning, which lacked the tension appropriate for a horror film. Eric had made some revisions in this version to enhance that aspect.

After spending about ten minutes comparing carefully, Eric nodded slightly. "Not bad, it's basically ready. Just a couple of small detail tweaks, and for the premiere... Jeffrey, notify the heads of the other four major film companies about the internal screening, but don't contact Fox and Columbia. Let's see if they're interested."

Jonathan let out a sigh of relief at Eric's affirmative words, while Jeffrey hesitated. "Eric, is it really wise to omit Fox and Columbia? After all, our collaboration with them has been the closest?"

Eric shrugged, explaining, "Given the current situation, Columbia is experiencing significant personnel changes after being acquired by the Japanese. How they'll manage Columbia is still uncertain, and I'm worried about our share -- whether we'll receive them on time. So for now, we should avoid collaborating with them. As for Fox, they already hold the distribution rights for my next two films. Involving them further will only have us compete with ourselves for our own resources."

Jeffrey suggested, "How about we traditionally invite folks from Fox and Columbia? If they decide against collaboration, it's ultimately still our call. Not inviting them could come off as rude."

Eric thought it over and nodded. "Alright, we'll do it your way. Also, let's have them screen together. For Al, let's just put it aside for now. He can take his time with it; as long as it gets a small-scale screening by the end of the year, that'll be fine. After all, it's his movie aiming for the Oscars."

Once they wrapped up their discussion on the film's release, Jonathan Demme finally had a chance to interject. "Eric, are you going to the Venice Film Festival in September?"

"Yeah, I'll at least make it to the opening or the awards ceremony," Eric replied.

It had been an entire year since his rebirth, and Eric had been busy to the point of never having a moment to just relax. Perhaps this trip to Venice could serve as a mini-vacation. As for winning awards, his expectations weren't particularly high. While the plot of this film was innovative, it was both a commercial and a horror film -- two categories often looked down upon by festival judges. The fact that it managed to be shortlisted for the main competition at Venice was already quite a remarkable outcome.

*****

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