Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 142 [The Beautiful "Malena" in Sicily]

"Well, Lee you're right."

Hearing what Li Yishu said, Thomas nodded in agreement: "This movie is not only important to you, but also to me."

Thomas is considered to be a member of Hisao Morishima's faction within Columbia. If Hisao Morishima can continue to serve as the president, it will definitely be a great benefit to him.

But if Hisao Morishima resigns and returns to Japan, even if Thomas will not be dismissed, he will most likely be squeezed into a marginal figure within the Columbia Group.

Li Yishu smiled and said, "So for our future, let's work hard!"

"That's right, keep going! I believe our movie will be a big hit at the box office!"

Thomas said this, but he was not very optimistic in his heart.

He read the script and found it very well written, but there are very few successful films of this type with supernatural and heartwarming themes in Hollywood.

The only successful one was "Ghost".

Li Yishu said, "Let's continue the interview. I hope the interview will be successful today."

"I hope it works. I just can't stand these kids anymore."

Thomas shook his head.

The candidates for the interview are all between 8 and 12 years old, and they cannot be too tall, and they must look delicate with bright eyes.

At this age, he is no longer a child and should be considered a teenager. However, he is still mentally immature. When he found out that he failed the interview, he inevitably felt aggrieved and burst into tears.

There have been several cases of children crying loudly in the morning.

After more than an hour of interview, when Li Yishu had no hope for the day, a little boy suddenly appeared and his eyes brightened.

The child looked about seven or eight years old. He was not tall, had neatly combed short brown hair, and had very fair skin.

Perhaps because the weather was a little cold, there were faint traces of redness on his cheeks from the wind. His eyes were not very bright, but they gave people a gentle feeling.

The first impression was good. He was a little different from the original actor, but he was just as gentle and well-behaved. Li Yishu asked, "James, your name is James, right?"

"Yes." James nodded his head.

"Do you know the soul?"

"Yes, Mommy said that after people die, their souls will be taken away by angels, and grandma's soul was taken away."

James' mother, standing beside him, gave a bitter smile.

"If you saw your grandma's ghost, would you be scared?"

"No, grandma is very nice to me."

"But what if it's a stranger's spirit? They can come into your room unfettered and take your favorite toy."

Hearing this, James' eyes suddenly filled with tears, and he said to his mother, "Mommy, I don't want them to come into my room and take my toys."

"Good boy James, no one can come into your room." James' mother hurriedly comforted her son.

"Okay, Jack, take James outside first."

Seeing the tears in James' eyes, that feeling of helplessness and pity, Li Yishu instantly decided to choose him.

However, in movies of this type, even though there are no truly terrifying scenes, the condition of the young actors is still very important.

Li Yishu left James' mother alone and asked her a few questions. She also said, "Ellie, James is great. I like his eyes very much. They are consistent with the image of my character in the movie. I decided to choose him."

"Great!" Ellie's eyes lit up. Ever since she was left alone, she felt that there was great hope for her son.

Li Yishu said, "We may need to speed up the filming of the crew, so if nothing unexpected happens, the filming will start next Monday. I hope you can have a good chat with James in the next few days."

"No problem, I will tell James. He actually likes performing very much. When he is at home, he often performs for us by himself."

Ellie immediately praised her son.

"OK, I know James is great. Well, you can go out and talk to James first, and I'll arrange for someone to sign a contract with you later."

"Thank you, thank you very much."

Ellie left excitedly.

Li Yishu said, "The young actors have been decided. Thomas will leave the subsequent young actors to you. I have to prepare other things."

"Are you sure you want to start filming next Monday? Isn't that a bit too soon?"

Thomas frowned and said, "Especially since James is still so young, shouldn't we tell him about the script and let him..."

"Do you expect a nine-year-old to understand our script?"

Li Yishu interrupted him and said, "What we have to do next is to teach him on the spot, instead of expecting him to understand the script by himself, or for us to arrange someone to teach him. And James gives me a very good feeling, I need him to be so real, and be able to cry at any time."

For a director, these two characters are the most difficult to shoot.

The first is animals, because you never know when animals will have problems;

The second is children, especially children of James' age, who are between understanding and not understanding. Sometimes a single sentence can make him burst into tears, and a single action can make him laugh out loud on the spot.

Therefore, Li Yishu has prepared for many NGs during the upcoming filming because of the young actor James.

The next morning.

The main actors have all arrived, including Monica Bellucci who was interviewed yesterday, the young actor James, and the actress Jessir who plays the male lead's wife.

After introducing each other, Li Yishu took them to the conference room.

"Hi everyone, the crew's preparations are almost done, and we will officially start filming next Monday, so within these three days, I hope everyone of you will come to the crew on time. I will briefly talk to you about the script and answer some of your questions."

Lead actor Bruce Willis was shocked by the speed of the start of filming. He thought that he would at least have to adapt himself a little bit after joining the crew, but he didn't expect that the crew would start filming in just three days.

"Okay, you guys get familiar with each other first. I hope we can cooperate well in the next period of time."

Li Yishu pointed at James and said, "Little James, if you can behave well, I will give you a set of the latest version of teddy bears."

"Really?" Little James' eyes lit up.

"Of course!" Li Yishu smiled. It was his mother Ellie who told him that little James liked teddy bears.

Besides encouragement, the most important thing for young actors is reward. Money is dispensable to them. Only a toy that they have been dreaming about is what they desire in their hearts.

While the main creative staff of the crew were communicating and getting to know each other, Li Yishu was also talking to producer Thomas about the shooting plan for the next few days.

Bruce Willis came over and said, "Lee, I think we need to talk."

"OK."

Li Yishu nodded, said a few words to Thomas, and then came to the outside of the house with Bruce Willis: "Come on, Bruce, what do you want to talk about?"

"I think we started the filming a little too hastily?"

Bruce Willis frowned and said, "The script you wrote is great. I like it very much, so I don't want to start filming so hastily."

Hearing this, Li Yishu smiled:
"Bruce, I appreciate your love for my script. I know that the filming started a little too early, but you have to believe me. I won't joke about my future. You should know how rare it is for me to get this directing opportunity, so don't worry that I will mess it up."

Bruce Willis certainly understands how rare it is for this Chinese director to get such a directing opportunity, and he certainly values ​​it a thousand times more than he does as the male lead.

But deep down, Bruce Willis still felt that it was a bit too hasty. After selecting the actors, other crews would often spend a month or two to prepare the crew. It was really rare for Director Li to start filming in just a few days.

"But I still think it's too hasty. How about we start filming next week? During this week or so, I can discuss the script with you more. I've read the script and I still have a lot of questions."

Bruce Willis really likes this script. Ever since he became famous with "Die Hard" in 1988, he has been trapped in the limitations of an action actor. Even though he has been shooting films of different themes in the past two years, the box office performance after their release can almost be described as dismal.

Especially the comedy film "The Immortals" released last year, which seemed to have earned 1.49 million US dollars at the global box office, but you have to know that the total investment in this film was 5500 million US dollars. If you calculate it purely based on the box office, this movie is a loss.

And the worst thing is that the North American box office was only 5800 million US dollars.

It can be said that all the accumulation of Bruce Willis in the past few years was defeated in one fell swoop. Many people persuaded him to return to the field of action films, but he was naturally unwilling to do so. So after taking on this movie, he hoped to make a comeback with this movie.

Li Yishu also learned about Bruce Willis' recent bad reputation from Thomas.

Knowing that the other party was so anxious for his own acting career, he pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, Bruce, we will start shooting as usual on Monday, and we will get familiar with each other while shooting."

"Ok."

Seeing that the director had said so, Bruce Willis naturally had nothing to say.

After having a meal at noon, the group rested for two hours. Li Yishu also explained to them the plot that he had casually mentioned in the script.

At the same time, he expressed the effect he wanted to achieve and personally gave guidance on the styling of several people.

Because the filming started so soon, Li Yishu had to make sure to lay the foundation for several actors in advance within these three days.

There is already a little actor named James, and if nothing unexpected happens, he will have to do a lot of NGs, so he naturally doesn't want these adult actors to make any mistakes.

In the evening, after everyone had dispersed, Monica Bellucci, who had received a considerable amount of salary for the film, took the initiative to invite Li Yishu to dinner.

Li Yishu smiled and said, "You treated me to a meal yesterday, so I'll treat you to a meal tonight."

"Okay, then where are we going to eat?"

"How about Hills Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard? I've heard that this restaurant is delicious."

"Hills Restaurant?"

Monica Bellucci was slightly stunned. She had only heard of this place but had never been there because the price was too expensive and she could not afford to eat there.

She took a look at her outfit and it didn't seem to fit in with such a high-end place, so she said, "My clothes don't seem to be suitable. How about I change into another set of clothes when I get back?"

"Sure, no problem. I also need to go back and prepare."

The two agreed to meet at Hills Restaurant at 7pm.

7 p.m.

Inside Hills Restaurant.

Li Yishu booked a table here early and waited. This restaurant requires reservations in advance. Yesterday at noon, he called Amy to make a reservation, and the person who introduced this restaurant was producer Thomas.

Just as Li Yishu was looking at the menu and waiting for someone, she noticed a figure walking into the restaurant from the corner of her eye.

He looked up and couldn't take his eyes off the other person.

I saw Monica walking towards me from a distance with graceful steps.

She wore a white top with a bow tie and a knee-length white skirt that was hip-hugging. Her long black hair seemed to be curled into a semi-wave on purpose. Her light makeup and red lipstick made her look more beautiful. Her slender legs in flesh-colored stockings looked like she was walking on a staircase, and her towering breasts were lifted up, shaking as she walked.

This look reminded Lee Yi-su of the unforgettable Malena in "Malena".

The appearance of Monica Bellucci instantly caused a commotion in the restaurant. The men's eyes revealed greed, while the women's eyes were mostly vigilant.

She walked over and said apologetically, "Sorry, it took me a while to find clothes at home."

"It's okay, I just got here too."

Li Yishu shook her head, stood up and asked the other party to sit down. She noticed the prying eyes of the people around her and said with a smile: "You are so beautiful, Monica. Your appearance has fascinated everyone in the restaurant."

"Thank you, you look handsome today too."

Monica Bellucci has been beautiful since she was a child, so she is naturally used to other people's gazes. She doesn't care about the people around her. Instead, she carefully looks at Li Yishu and says, "This suit suits you very well. The fabric seems to be made in Italy?"

"Can you recognize it?"

Li Yishu was surprised that this suit was the one he got for free when he attended the Venice Film Festival.

Monica Bellucci smiled and said, "I have been engaged in the modeling industry for many years. I am more or less familiar with the fabrics and styles of Italian clothing. Your double-breasted design style is in line with the habits of Italian designers. It seems that this kind of double-breasted design is rare in the United States."

"And I guess your suit was made at Piero's handmade suit shop in Milan."

Hearing this, Li Yishu widened her eyes and asked, "You, how did you know that?"

Even he himself was almost forgetting the name of the suit shop. If Monica hadn't told him, he wouldn't have had any impression of it at all.

Seeing Li Yishu's shocked expression, Monica Bellucci suddenly laughed:
"Haha, because the logo on your chest is the logo of Piero's handmade suit shop. I have been a model in Milan for more than three years, and I am quite familiar with this famous private handmade shop in Milan."

(End of this chapter)