The birth of an actor

Chapter 33 Goodbye, Old Friend
After carrying the bowl on her head for over an hour and finishing her meal, Fan Bing left.

I need to find a performance training class.

Anxin returned to her room and continued looking at her sleeping pills from the previous night.

After watching the three-hour "Godfather," he didn't care much about the plot, since the film was from a bygone era and the storyline actually had a rather stereotypical sense of individual heroism.

The old Godfather died, and the new Godfather went from initial resistance to eventually sitting in his father's chair... Whether you call it a succession or some other story, it doesn't matter.

To say that it resonated with him would be an exaggeration.

The story is good, but I didn't feel it was particularly classic.

But he still went back to the beginning, and when he saw the old Godfather sitting in his chair, saying something in Chinese with a slurred phrase like "You won't even call me Dad," he narrowed his eyes slightly.

After watching, rewind.

Watch it again, then rewind.

After looking back and forth several times, his gaze settled on the hand belonging to Lord Corleone as the image slowly zoomed out.

He wasn't sure if he was doing reading comprehension, or if the actor was interpreting the role with the same understanding and mindset as him.

In short, after reading the whole story and looking back at the beginning, he understood three different meanings from this gesture alone.

In this scene, as Corleone is gradually pushed back into the distance, his right hand is exposed in the shot.

He placed his right hand next to his face, initially remaining still. While listening to the other person speak, he scratched his face. Then, when the foreigner working in the funeral industry recounted his daughter's disfigurement and began to sob, he made a gesture to the side. Someone off-screen brought the foreigner a glass of water. When the foreigner calmed down and continued recounting the two men who had abused his daughter, he remained calm.

When he heard the words, "Those two bastards were given probation and they were even smiling at me. I know I can only ask Lord Corleone about this," his left hand, which was on his face, made a scratching motion with his beard from behind.

With a sense of relief, the old godfather's initial face-scratching was a sign of impatience.

Or perhaps you have limited patience.

But the fact that his hand stopped moving meant that even though he was impatient, he was still listening.

When he finally heard the other party "praise" him, saying that he could only seek out Lord Corleone, his touching of his beard seemed more like a subconscious sense of entitlement, or rather, "smugness."

This is a restrained emotion stemming from being revered and worshipped.

Not ostentatious.

But one must feel that it is perfectly reasonable.

Because he is the Godfather.

His impatience is understandable, because the next scene of the wedding is that after dealing with these matters, the godfather goes out to find his child's grand wedding taking place.

He was supposed to be very busy on his wedding day, but he was dealing with this kind of thing instead.

The stillness of the hand, representing listening, is a perfect reflection of good personal manners.

He wasn't sure if his understanding was correct, or if it was just... a personal interpretation. After all, it's possible the director and actors didn't even think that way while filming. But he still tried to understand it according to his own line of thought.

Because of this scene, in his layman's view, the actor playing Corleone still can't tell whether he is Marlon Brando or Al Pacino, and he was very reserved throughout the whole scene.

From those ambiguous words to the imposing presence he exuded while sitting in the chair, the silent pressure he exerted...

He handles everything in a very reserved way.

This restrained approach, indeed, runs throughout the entire film, giving the viewer an...exceptionally comfortable feeling.

It's captivating, it inspires longing. And it evokes a sense of shared joy and sorrow, a feeling of a hero's twilight years.

The image froze, and he continued to think.

This kind of thinking doesn't mean he's thinking about how he would act if he were in that situation, but rather it's purely a divergent way of thinking from a personal perspective.

Unlike Fan Bingbing, who saw Zhang Manyu's phenomenal acting in "Comrades: Almost a Love Story" and wanted to imitate her, he didn't.

I didn't think about things like camera language or subconscious expression.

nothing.

His reflection was simply that after watching the entire Godfather film, he was thinking about the core of the character he considered the most outstanding.

Why did the actor playing the Godfather handle this scene the way he did?

What is the personality of the character Godfather?
Why did he do what he did in every scene of the movie?

Anxin didn't dwell on how well the other person's expressions were done, how outstanding a certain movement was, or how the director used filming techniques to give Lord Corleone various impressions.

Nothing at all.

He simply pieced together the character of "Lord Corleone" in his mind according to his own perception and understanding.

As stated in "Six Lectures on Acting," observation and reflection are the most crucial driving forces for actors, bar none. And he is currently reflecting on this.

By observing, reflecting on, and deconstructing the characters.

He didn't even care whether what he did was useful, or whether he would get a role similar to "Corleone" in the future...

He doesn't care.

I never even thought about it.

I just really enjoy deconstructing the Corleone family's golden beam over the sea, little by little, according to my own understanding.

After thinking for a while, he pressed the play button again.

Keep watching.

This time it's fast forward.

He fast-forwarded through everyone else's scenes, stopping whenever Corleone appeared.

After watching, fast forward again.

Time flew by, and in just over twenty minutes, he finished watching it.

Okay, end.

The videotape freezes on the old man's radiant smile in a family photo at his wedding. He sits by the door, fanning himself with a fan, lost in thought.

He was lost in thought until a little after 10:30, which was less than half an hour in total. Then, his hand unconsciously found a comfortable support and rested on his right cheek.

It's imitation. But it's not imitation.

I simply continued to follow my heart and think about Corleone as a person.

then……

He gradually constructed a world in his mind that belonged to "Corleone," and in that world, there was the life of an Italian.

Corleone's life was beyond words.

It's just that my mind wanders around like a fleeting glance.

The personalities of his children were also woven into Corleone's life. In his view, perhaps those children were pieces of Corleone's own personality puzzle.

Every aspect of his personality was reflected in his sons.

Based on that... his life must have been quite eventful.

He is loyal, decisive, respects tradition, does not forget his origins, and possesses an extraordinary mind...

Starting from nothing, he gradually rose to become the renowned "Lord Corleone"...

Regardless of whether his understanding and construction conformed to the original work, he simply sat in the room, looking at the bright sunshine outside, and in his mind, as if writing a novel, he constructed his own "Corleone".

Once the construction was complete, decades passed in the blink of an eye. Finally, the illusory world seamlessly transitioned into the movie, where the old man collapsed in the vegetable garden he had cultivated.

As the bells rang in her mind, Anxin slowly came back to her senses.

A sense of melancholy filled my heart.

The reason is unknown.

When he got up again to get a drink of water, his eyes fell on the television.

In the blurry image on the television, the old man was surrounded by his beloved wife and children in the wedding garden. Dressed in a sharp suit, he shed his sternness and revealed a loving and joyful smile.

"..."

He paused in his act of drinking water.

But the next second, he slightly raised the enamel mug in his hand.

It was both a gesture of mutual respect and a farewell.

I raised my glass to the elderly man on TV, a strange emotion welling up inside me.

It seemed like sadness, joy, composure, and a sense of relief.

Looking at his lifelong friend before him, he sighed softly.
Goodbye, old friend.

After saying that, he drank the water in the cup in one gulp.

Like a farewell drink.

……

"...What's wrong with you?"

At noon, the girl, covered in sweat, came to Anxin and immediately noticed that something was wrong with him.

An Xin was taken aback and asked in confusion:
"What do you mean?"

"It seems like something happened to you, and you're unhappy and sad."

As Fan Bing spoke, she got off her bicycle, puzzled, and pushed it under the porch before asking:
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine."

"Nonsense, your eyes are drooping right now. Tell me, what happened?"

"?"

Anxin subconsciously touched her face and chuckled to herself:
"I'm really fine. I just felt quite sad after watching 'The Godfather' this morning."

Why are you sad?

"Hmm...have you seen it?"

"Of course... um, cough cough."

The girl coughed lightly:
"You won't even call me Godfather. What have I done to deserve such disrespect from me..."

She can recite a line of dialogue effortlessly.

But Anxin let out a long sigh:
"Yes, I am saddened by Corleone's death."

"?"

Fan Bing was stunned by An Xin's words.

A thought popped into my head: a strange and wonderful ability to empathize.

However, after confirming that Anxin's feelings weren't due to real-life events but simply because of a movie, her attention quickly shifted:

"Hey, let me tell you, I found an acting training class! It's taught by acting professors on a rotating basis. If you want to go, we can go this afternoon. I heard the teachers there have taught Wang Zhiwen, Jiang Wenli, and Xu Qing, and they're really good. But it's a bit expensive, 450 yuan a month, three classes a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings... I've already decided to go, do you want to?"

"Okay."

Upon hearing this, An Xin agreed without much thought.

However, his gaze immediately turned somewhat strange, and he tentatively asked:
How much is the referral fee for each person?

Fan Bing was taken aback, then rolled her eyes:
"Ten million!...Hey, where are you going?"

"Let's call Grandpa Ye along too, and have him get the neighbors involved to bankrupt this training center!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The girl laughed so hard she almost fell over; she was so happy.

Seeing her smile, Anxin was also happy.

The last trace of sadness in my heart vanished without a trace.

(End of this chapter)