Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 244 TV Interview
"Link, can you tell us what it feels like to be treated as a murderer?"

At the Turner TV show taping, host Billy Crystal asked with a smile.

Link shrugged his shoulders, showing a helpless expression, "Billy, this is not something to joke about."

“Yes, the Simpson case is a tragedy, not something to be laughed at, but what happened to you is a comedy. After the release of Seven last month, the box office was suppressed by a number of blockbusters. It looked like it was going to lose money, and then suddenly this case happened, and it involved Seven.

With the media's publicity, "Se7en" became known to everyone, and the box office rose against the trend, winning the box office championship for two consecutive weeks, surpassing more than a dozen commercial blockbusters in the summer vacation and becoming the most popular movie in the summer vacation. Wow, the journey of "Se7en" to win the championship was very dramatic, like a thrilling inspirational movie. "

clap clap clap!
Fans of "Seven" in the audience applauded enthusiastically.

Link waved his hand to express his gratitude and said to Billy Crystal, "You said it very well. In fact, it is not that thrilling. In the first three weeks of its release, Seven earned more than 6800 million US dollars, and the box office fell by less than 30%. The word of mouth is also very positive. For an art film, this data is very outstanding. Even if there were no subsequent accidents, the North American box office of this movie would be more than 2 million US dollars, and even exceed million. As for the accident that happened not long ago, it only accelerated the process of box office recovery, rather than saving Seven from the brink of loss."

"You mentioned that if nothing unexpected happens, the North American box office of Seven will also exceed $2 million? It seems that you are very confident in this movie."

Billy Crystal said.

"Yes, after all, it's a pretty good movie, isn't it?"

“Yes, Seven is indeed great. Whether it is the camera language design, the set layout, or the light and color matching, they are all very classic. What shocked me most about this movie was the last ten minutes, when the three leading actors confronted each other in a taxi, and the design of John Doe at the end. The plot kept turning, and you couldn’t be sure what would happen next until the last second.

It's amazing! This is definitely the best suspense film I have ever seen, and a very un-Hollywood Hollywood film. Director Martin Scorsese said that this film deserves a Palme d'Or, and I couldn't agree more. "

Billy Crystal did his homework in advance. He used refined language to explain the most exciting parts of "Seven" while ensuring that no spoilers would be given.

"Look! You like Seven so much, that's why I'm confident about the box office."

Link spread his hands and said.

"But Link, after the success of Seven, some media criticized the movie for praising and encouraging violence, which could easily lead to imitation by criminals and cause social unrest. The Simpson Villa murders might have been a copycat behavior triggered by this movie. What do you think of this statement?"

"This question involves the definition of movies. From the audience's perspective, movies are divided into good movies and bad movies. A good movie means that after watching it, you feel that the movie is worth the price of the movie ticket, while a bad movie is the opposite. From the perspective of filmmakers, a good movie is a meaningful movie, while a bad movie is meaningless and has empty and boring content.

As far as current Hollywood movies are concerned, most of them only have entertainment value, such as comedies, horror films, cartoons, etc. During the watching process, everyone laughs and becomes happy, or screams in fear, the emotions are released, and the body relaxes. These are all the values of the movie.

But if all movies are just for entertainment purposes, what will movies become in the end?

The movie will be worthless.

Because entertainment is not only provided by movies, but also by other entertainment programs. In the long run, movies will soon be replaced by other forms of entertainment, such as the currently popular electronic games.

The most unique significance, or charm, of movies is that they are more than just simple entertainment, but can also be profound, educational, warning, culturally communicative, value-oriented, enlightening, and thought-provoking. For example, there are more and more environmental films, humanistic films that oppose racial discrimination, and science fiction films that promote the charm of science and technology.

These unique meanings make movies an irreplaceable form of entertainment.

If you analyze "Seven" from this perspective, you will find that it is not glorifying violence, but exposing the ugliness and dark sides of society. These dark sides are like cancer in the social body. If we do not expose and ignore them, and take their existence for granted, the early cancer will eventually become a terminal illness, causing great harm to American society and even all mankind.

"Seven Deadly Sins" boldly exposes the stubborn illness that exists in our society, allowing people to see the problem, pay attention to it, and urge the government to actively govern it. Only then will this stubborn illness disappear.

From this perspective, this movie is more like a scalpel, breaking through stubborn diseases, warning society, and prompting society to develop in a positive direction. It is a movie with positive significance, not the opposite. "

clap clap clap!
After he finished speaking, Billy Crystal and hundreds of audience members applauded and cheered. The applause lasted for more than a minute without stopping, and Link had to stand up to thank them.

"This guy always says I'm long-winded, but in fact he's more long-winded than me."

Quentin complained while watching TV.

"Really? Link makes a lot of sense and everyone likes to listen to it."

Robert Rodriguez said.

"Humph, that's because his movie is a big hit, people will think he's good. If the movie loses money, people will just think he's nagging."

Quentin said with a curl of his lips.

The last time he participated in the Billy Talks Movies show, he talked a lot, but the audience didn't give him such warm applause, which made him very unhappy.

"Dad, isn't what Link said great?"

Sophia smiled as she watched the TV.

"It's just a rehash of the same old stuff, not very meaningful."

Director Coppola said nonchalantly. Sofia rolled her eyes at him and said, "What about Seven? Is it a good movie?"

"It's okay. The script of this movie is good. If it were given to other directors, they would also be able to make a good movie. Technically speaking, Link is a qualified director, but not a particularly outstanding one."

Director Coppola said.

Sophia said dissatisfiedly, "Whether Link is shooting commercial films or art films, he can shoot very well, with good box office and good reputation. Whether it is a low-budget film or a high-budget film, he can handle it skillfully. If such a director is not an excellent director, what kind of director is it? I think you are jealous of him and refuse to admit that he is excellent."

"I'm jealous of him? What a joke. He can make the Godfather series? He can win the Oscar for Best Director?"

Director Coppola immediately refuted.

"You are jealous of his youth. Link became an internationally renowned director at the age of 22, and you were still working as a laborer on a film crew at the age of 22, right?"

"I"

Director Francis Coppola opened his mouth, unable to refute.

This kid Link is indeed talented. He is 22 years old this year. At an age when many directors are still studying in college or accumulating experience in the crew, he can make a high-level literary and artistic film like "Seven Deadly Sins".

From a technical point of view, he is considered a first-class Hollywood director.

But in terms of character, this guy is a scum. After he got money and fame, he hooked up with beautiful girls everywhere and bewitched those silly girls. He is such a scum.

In order for him to admit that Link is a good director, he has to let his precious daughter go first.

When Director Coppola saw his daughter looking at Link on TV with fascination, he became even more dissatisfied and picked up the remote control to change the channel. Then Mrs. Coppola slapped his arm and asked angrily, "What are you doing? Link is talking well. Why are you holding the remote control?"

Sophia also looked at him in confusion.

Director Coppola had a sullen face and glared at Link on TV unhappily. This guy was so annoying.

"Link, when I was reading the reviews of the movie Seven recently, I remember a film critic saying that the main actors in Seven were all good people, but they didn't have a good ending in the end. This was deliberately designed by the screenwriter to enhance the dramatic conflict, and it lacks rationality.

After watching the movie, I also found that the four main characters are all good people, including the murderer John Doe, who can be called a Robin Hood-like figure, but in the end they all did not have a happy ending. Do you think this arrangement is reasonable?"

Billy Crystal began discussing the plot with him.

Link thought for a moment and said, "In real life, these people do exist. But they are scattered in every corner of society, and it is difficult for them to be opposed as in the movie. In the movie, I brought them together and made them oppose each other at the same time. This is the charm of drama. The reason why they don't have a good ending is that they are all perfectionists, or idealists."

"Oh? What do you say?"

Billy Crystal is the supporting actor.

"For example, old detective William is a man with strong working ability and full of life wisdom. If such a person is more flexible in his work and willing to go along with the bad guys around him, at his age, he would not be an ordinary detective, he might be a senior member of the police station.

Detective Mills is conscientious in his work, very motivated, brave, and hates evil. If he did not pursue advancement, he might have stayed in his original small town instead of coming to New York to work hard, or if he was a little timid, he would have chosen to back down after John Doe pointed a gun at his head.

And Tracy was a gentle, considerate, loyal, strong, and understanding wife. If she had been a little more selfish and opposed following her husband to New York and living in a cramped apartment, she would not have died.

Finally, there is John Doe. If he had been more numb and blind to the ugliness around him like the others, he would have been a good reporter instead of a murderer.

They are all good people in a sense, but they don’t have a good ending because they pursue perfection too much.”

“So you think striving for perfection is a bad thing?”

Billy Crystal asked.

"It is not good or bad to judge, it is more appropriate to say that it is a choice. For example, some of my colleagues pursue pure film art and like to shoot films with an artistic atmosphere. In order to maintain this purity, they stay away from commercial films and disdain to cater to the market. If these directors are lucky, they may become famous, but most of them will disappear quietly from the film industry after shooting one or two films.

Some directors actively cater to the market and the audience, and make many movies that the audience likes, thus becoming famous directors, making a lot of money, and living a more luxurious life, like me. "

Hahaha!
The audience laughed.

Link continued, "Directors who choose pure film art can give up fame and fortune and stick to their principles, while directors who pursue fame and fortune will actively cater to the market and shoot movies that audiences like, while also gaining fame and fortune. These two types of directors cannot be distinguished as good or bad, they just make different choices.

The same is true for the protagonists of Seven Deadly Sins. In the movie, they always act according to their own principles, without compromise or following the crowd. Some people think they are good people, probably based on this. "

clap clap clap!
The audience applauded again.

(End of this chapter)