Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 175 Disadvantages of the Script
The director of "Memoirs of a Geisha" was finally confirmed to be co-directed by Tang De and Rob.

At the same time, Rob Marshall served as the art director and Donde served as the photographer.

Tang De's salary was finally set at US$400 million. This was due to his experience in directing "Saw" and various award-winning titles.

Tang De readily agreed to this, after all, he was short of money.

Generally speaking, Hollywood directors' first film salary generally ranges from US$75 to US$200 million.

Most of the time it's 100 million US dollars, but when you wait for the second part, you can see a very high improvement, just like Tang De.

He proved himself with "Saw" and a box office of over 100 million, which is why he was able to get such a high salary in "Memoirs of a Geisha".

And if he continues to prove himself with this film, it means that his abilities are not limited to horror films, and the salary for his third film will be higher.

Of course, if he wants to reach the point of sharing box office profits with the film studio, he still needs to prove himself with higher box office.

For example, the future Christopher Nolan received a salary of US$2000 million and a 20% share of the total revenue for "Dunkirk".

After learning the identities of the other members, Tang De took his seat and started reading the script with everyone.

After Sayuri slowly accepted the fact of his death, the president suddenly appeared in front of her and gave her a huge surprise.

The production company of this film is Columbia Pictures. When Donde and Carl entered the office, they first saw Steven Spielberg and Rob Marshall.

This is the upper limit of Hollywood directors, and Tang De is still far away from this goal.

"Tang, you have read the whole story, do you have any thoughts?" After Tang De reorganized all the plots, Steven took the initiative to ask Tang De. He hoped that Tang De could make some useful suggestions, but he did not want Tang De to make any suggestions. Too many suggestions.

Now that the director has been confirmed, "Memoirs of a Geisha" has officially entered the preparation stage. The first thing to do is to discuss the script.

"Long time no see, Don!" Rob stood up and gave Tang De a warm hug, and then Steven briefly introduced the crew members to him.

However, just when she thought she was one step closer to the president she loved, World War II broke out.

This tortured Sayuri until she grew up and was discovered and trained by Mamiyu.

The president sent Sayuri and Mamiha out of Kyoto and promised that he would find her later, but this promise was never fulfilled.

She just broke away from Hatsumomo's control, gradually grew into an outstanding geisha, and became famous with her crazy snow dance.

But at the same time, Hatsumomo was afraid that Sayuri would be more beautiful than her when she grew up, so she framed Sayuri for painting the clothes of the famous geisha Ma Miu.

It wasn't until he saw "Chicago" that he felt that its song and dance forms, colors and shots were very suitable for this movie, so he decided to hand over the movie to Tang De and Rob.

From then on, Sayuri secretly promised.

Of course, in Tang De's view, this goal may be achieved in the next few years. After all, his vision transcends the times.

The script lasted from morning until six in the afternoon, and everyone had a complete understanding of the whole story. During the process, everyone also kept asking about various details in the script to make sure they knew it well.

The story of "Memoirs of a Geisha" originates from the little girl Sayuri, who was sold to a geisha house as a servant to the famous geisha Hatsumomo. In the process, she met an industrialist, the president, and was treated kindly by him.

However, Tang De remained silent and just read the script silently.

Because he has been responsible for supervising the production of this script.

The script of "Memoirs of a Geisha" has been revised many times and is still being revised. Steven actually likes this script very much and wants to shoot it himself, but since he is not very proficient in singing and dancing, he has never made up his mind. .

Steven serves as the producer, Robin Swicord is the screenwriter, Arthur Gordon is the original author, John Mayer and Rob are both art directors, and Lisa Eamon is the film's technical director consultant.

After thinking for a moment, Tang De said: "I think the last part of this script is a bit bad... Forgive me for using this word to describe it, but it really gave me a bad impression."

"Why? How could it be bad!" Arthur Gordon was the first to stand up and retort. He treated this work as if he were his own child.

Even Steven frowned, as if he didn't understand what Tang De meant.

Upon seeing this, Tang De turned the script to the last few pages and said: "Look here, many years after Sayuri separated from the president, she thought that the president was dead, or that the two would never see each other again, so she The handkerchief was thrown into the forest... I think the story can end here, there is no need for the president to appear in front of Sayuri. "

"Why, isn't the ending of two people reunited beautiful?" Arthur Gordon retorted: "I think the ending of two people going through many difficulties and then getting together is very touching." Steven did not speak, listening to the two discussion.

Tang De twitched his lips: "But this is a movie...Gordon, what do you think our movie embodies? Is it love?"

"Isn't it?" Arthur Gordon spread his hands.

"Of course not!" Tang De said with a smile: "It's fate... it's the fate of the geisha, the fate of the times, the fate that everyone longs for but cannot reach."

"Hatsumomo longed to become a palace-level geisha and to control her own freedom, but she couldn't achieve it because of jealousy.

"Sayuri longs to be the president's sweetheart, but because of her identity and the war, she can't realize the destiny she wants.

"This is the center of the movie. As geishas, ​​they can't help themselves. They are just a group of poor playthings swept away by the torrent of the times. To put it bluntly, the whole story has a tragic tone. If Sayuri realizes her wish in the end, then... It will destroy this sense of destiny.”

Tang De saw Arthur Gordon and Robin Swicord in deep thought, and continued to speak out his thoughts: "In addition, the president is also very strange. He clearly loves Sayuri, but he wants to give her away To others. And it was not until Sayuri made it clear that she would not let anyone else go that he came forward to meet her, as if Sayuri was just a plaything in his eyes, something that could be handed over to others.

"You said that the president loves her, but I don't think it is reflected. He is more of a background and Sayuri's goal in this movie. He is more like a symbol, just like the handkerchief he gave to Sayuri. So the whole The script did not show the feeling of overcoming difficulties together for love, which is the main reason why I thought it could be deleted.”

In fact, this is one of the most criticized points by movie fans in later generations.

On the one hand, the plot is too bland after Sayuri grows up, and on the other hand, the president's appearance at the end is too abrupt.

So Tang De plans to change them and compete in major film festivals.

You must know that the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" received six Oscar nominations and three Oscar awards, but it did not have the most convincing nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.

In Tang De's view, it is because this is a manifestation of the script's pursuit of perfection and the director's lack of skills.

Although Rob Marshall performed very well in "Chicago", that's because the script of "Chicago" was the result of countless theater polishes.

To put it simply, as a director, he lacks control over the script and is more accustomed to step-by-step shooting.

This is very fatal. You must know that if the director cannot judge the quality of the script, then his career will probably be consuming his aura in the ups and downs.

Just like Zhang Guoshi, and some fifth-generation directors who claim to be aristocrats. Once they encounter a bad script, they often have the toughest words, or simply blame everything on the audience, thinking that the market is immature and the audience does not understand.

In Tang De's view, this is a typical picture-oriented director who lacks aesthetics and control over words.

And when he expressed his thoughts, Steven also fell silent. As the most experienced and accomplished director present, he was actually vaguely aware of some problems.

But due to long-term exposure to the script, this sensitivity has been worn away by repeated viewings.

He didn't realize the flaws in the script until Tang De brought it up.

"What Don said makes sense." Steven did not make the whole meeting a single statement. He said very fairly: "This is my negligence. I did not think about this issue in advance. Yes, what our movie is about is not It’s a love story, but a story of a geisha drifting with the times. It shouldn’t be so perfect and should have some flaws.”

"Don, what do you think should be changed?" Steven put his hands into fists on the table.

After hearing his words, everyone turned their attention to Tang De.

Tang De touched his chin and said, "She shouldn't get everything she wants. On the contrary, she should keep losing."

"In her childhood, she actually had everything. Although life was heavy and harsh, the people she wanted to see and the things she wanted to do came true."

"However, when she grows up, she will gradually lose those beautiful things, be disciplined by the geisha life, be stared at by men, and finally lose her love and career during World War II."

"This is where she should end up. The scene should end with her throwing the handkerchief into the forest. As the handkerchief flies in the air, the scene slowly fades to the end."

Tang De briefly described the scene in his imagination, and everyone's eyes immediately lit up, being touched by the scene he described.

"Okay, then just follow what Tang De said." Steven clapped his hands and said, "Robin Swicord, you can revise the script. I want to see it within a week."

"no problem."

"Then there's one more thing..." Steven continued after implementing the script: "How should I choose the actors?"

(End of this chapter)