As the plot continued to develop, the audience finally saw the basic clues and framework. The male protagonist, Leonard, had not only lost his wife because of a burglary, but he had also suffered from temporary amnesia. The director deliberately used a clip of a barmaid spitting into a wine jug to illustrate the scene. It even caused the audience to laugh. The male protagonist, who had survived the disaster, used the photo to help him remember and began to tirelessly search for the rapist, wanting to avenge his wife.
However, the director used both a narrative and a flashback to tell the story. Although the structure was novel, it inevitably looked a little strenuous. If one was not careful, they might miss out on some clues. For example, the male protagonist was obviously related to Teddy, who was shot by him at the beginning, and he explained his symptoms by talking about the person who had also suffered from temporary amnesia and killed his wife. Unfortunately, there were too many clues and they were all intertwined. The plot developed very quickly, making it difficult for the audience to understand.
However, it was precisely because of this that the movie was very attractive. If they were not in a cinema, there might be people who would jump up and ask for a certain clip to be replayed.
Finally, the movie reached the end, and everything was revealed. Even if the audience missed a lot of clues, they still understood the ending. Teddy was a police officer. He had long helped Leonard find the criminal who raped his wife, and Leonard had long since avenged him. However, he had forgotten about it. Then, Teddy used him to kill a drug dealer and embezzled $200,000. Leonard, who knew all of this, no longer trusted him. He took a photo of Teddy and noted not to be fooled again. In the end, due to various factors, Leonard thought that Teddy had killed his wife's murderer and killed him. Hence, there was the opening scene, but it was unknown if Leonard would still forget about it.
As the subtitles finished playing, the lights came on. However, there was no applause in the theater, only intermittent discussions. Although they roughly understood what the story was about, there were many parts that could not be understood just by watching it once. For example, was the person who suffered from temporary amnesia really a person, or was it just a figment of his imagination? Was his wife killed by the rapist, or was he the one who caused it? The audience exchanged their views with each other, completely forgetting that the movie was over.
"It looks like the movie failed. There's not even a single applause." Adriaan, who was sitting in the back seat, sighed and said, "I have to say, Dan, you really disappoint me."
"Me?" Denis, who was sitting next to Laffern, looked at Adriaan in confusion.
"That's right. You're an actor. Shouldn't you take some responsibility?" Adriaan said seriously.
"This …" Denis was depressed. He looked around and sighed. "Kate and Joe are actors too."
"That's different." Adriaan waved his hand. "You have the most scenes."
Kate, who was sitting next to him, finally couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Alright, Eide, stop teasing Dan. Didn't you hear their discussion? Perhaps there will be applause soon. "
As soon as he said that, applause rang out. At first, there was only one person, but after a few seconds, most people joined in. It was just that because they were discussing the plot of the movie, there were many people applauding, but the applause was slightly sparse.
"How was it?" Kate immediately puffed out her chest proudly.
"Very good, very good!" Adriaan laughed and kissed her beautiful face.
Joe Pantoriano, who saw this, patted Denis on the shoulder and said in a serious tone, "Let's go, Dan. This has become a place for them to flirt."
Several of the crew members around them suddenly chuckled. Kate turned her head away in embarrassment and coughed.
"Okay, guys, it's almost time. We should leave." Seeing that the audience had begun to leave in twos and threes, Adriaan stood up and called everyone to prepare to go back. However, as soon as he walked to the aisle, he was stopped by a few people.
"Hello, Mr. Adriaan, I'm John Bateson from the Los Angeles Evening News. Can I ask you a few questions?" said a man with brown hair and decent facial features.
"Mr. Adriaan, I'm a reporter from the Eastern Republic. Can I talk about your movie?" The man behind Bateson reached out his hand. He had a pair of eye-catching ears. He was French because he spoke in French.
There were a few people behind him, introducing themselves in their own language or in English with a strange accent. Adriaan nodded and glanced at Laffern, who was behind him. Laffern shrugged imperceptibly.
Are they all tabloids? Alright, it doesn't matter. Adriaan smiled and raised his hand. "Thank you for your support. If you have any questions, ask away. Of course, please don't be too picky. I'm sure you don't want me to say that I have no comment, right?"
Although the mainstream of the Berlin Film Festival was political films, as one of the most influential film festivals in the world, there were still many outstanding films that came to participate. For example, "The Silence of the Lambs," which won Best Film and Best Actor and Actress at the 64th Oscars. Like Denis and the others, Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, who were the main actors, also attended this year's Berlin Film Festival.
Although Adriaan, the director and producer of "The Smoking Pipe," had garnered a lot of attention in the past few months, he was still a rookie director. In the eyes of the reporters, the news value of a director was not as high as that of a big star. Therefore, the well-known media had surrounded the more famous directors and big stars.
However, it didn't matter. It was better than nothing. A few months ago, when he was in Venice, even after "The Smoking Pipe" received good reviews, there weren't many reporters who came to interview him. Although one of the reasons was that he took Kate to travel around.
Adriaan's cooperative attitude had won him the favor of many people. The first to ask a question was the French reporter. "I want to know, what is the purpose of your editing, Mr. Adriaan?"
"Of course it's to tell a story. The editing methods that surprise, surprise, or confuse people are actually for the sake of telling a good story." Adriaan replied with a smile, but he couldn't help but scold the idiot in his heart. Although it was a good thing to have attention, it couldn't be helped if the person was stupid. Tabloids were indeed tabloids.
"This is a surprising movie. May I know who killed Leonard's wife?" This time, it was John Bateson from the Los Angeles Evening News who asked the question.
Another one … Adriaan shrugged. "I'm sorry, I can't say this directly. I can only say that all the clues are in the movie. If you feel that there are any questions or something wrong, you can watch it again in the theater. "
The other tabloid reporters, like them, kept asking questions about the plot, which made Adriaan depressed. But then again, it made sense. The tabloids only chased after the very eye-catching gossip. The reason they came to interview him was probably because the suspense of the movie was too attractive. From this point of view … it was not bad.
As they walked out while chatting, the group soon arrived outside the theater. Adriaan immediately gave Laffern a look. Laffern nodded knowingly and suddenly said loudly, "Everyone, if you are not satisfied, you can ask Mr. Denis Knight. He is the main character of the whole movie."
The reporters were stunned, and then they surrounded Denis. Sure enough, in the eyes of reporters, especially tabloid entertainment reporters, the value of an actor was still much higher than that of a director. Denis was obviously flattered. Although there were only seven or eight reporters around, and they were all tabloid reporters, when had he ever received such treatment? Even after acting in a movie with a good reputation and box office. But then he calmed down and responded with a smile. It was obvious that he liked such a scene.
Seeing that the reporters' attention was attracted by Denis, Adriaan quietly slipped away with Kate. He believed that with Denis's ability and Laffern and Pantoriano's guidance, there would be no problem.
"Really, I wanted to stay there and wait for them to ask me a few questions." After walking through two streets and seeing that the reporters wouldn't be able to find them, Kate suddenly complained. But looking at her curved eyes and playful expression, it was easy to guess what she was thinking.
"Well, then, big star, Miss Kate Beckinsale, how do you feel about the role you played this time?" Adriaan asked with a smile.
"Well …" Kate tilted her head and thought for a moment. Her face suddenly collapsed. "I don't feel … very good."
"Why?" Adriaan was a little surprised.
"Think about it. My first character was a guy who smoked marijuana all day, and he was delirious. He didn't even have a single line. My second character was full of vulgarities and had a drug-dealing boyfriend who was killed … None of them were normal." Kate sighed and said, "Especially the makeup in 'Memory Fragments' … It was so ugly that I didn't dare to see it on the screen. It's weird. When I was on the set, I didn't think it was that ugly …"
Adriaan couldn't help but laugh. "Well, when you have time, I'll see what romantic comedies are suitable for you to act in. Those roles that are sexy and beautiful and fascinating at first glance."
Kate was just about to say yes, but when she saw Adriaan's half-smile, she swallowed her words.
"Is there … something wrong?" Kate asked a little.
"No, nothing." This time it was Adriaan's turn to sigh. "Frankly, you acted very well in 'Memory Fragments'. You were better than Dan and second only to Joe."
This was the truth. Although Denis did a good job, and the makeup and acting skills basically met Adriaan's requirements, because she was too young, she did not do a good job in some small details. Ordinary audiences might not be aware of it, but Adriaan, who had watched it countless times as an editor, was very clear about it. Fortunately, there was a good enough story to make up for it.
Although Kate was also young, and even a little too young, she was not like Denis, who had scenes throughout the whole movie. Secondly, the younger she was, the more lively and flexible she was. In addition, Adriaan, who was very familiar with movies, made slight changes to the script and gave her guidance. He also deliberately asked the makeup artist to make her look uglier than the original version to cover up her beauty, so she performed very well.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
