Lan Li enjoyed the filming of "Lobster" very, very much.

On the one hand, this comedy film allows Lan Li to try to interpret the humor in the way of the main drama, and change the temperament of the whole performance through the rhythm change of eyes, tone and movements, which is really a very wonderful and extremely interesting thing; on the other hand, the script and the story itself have the possibility of deep excavation, which also makes the characters have more longitude and latitude, and the combination of performance and plot can collide with more sparks, which is also part of Lan Li's passion for performance.

All in all, Lan Li can really enjoy it.

Thanks to the wonderful performance of the actors, the filming of "Lobster" went very smoothly, at least in the hotel scene before entering the forest, which was smooth sailing.

The smooth filming schedule allowed the cast to finish work on time and leave work on time, and then ...... Participate in the crew's Scrabble game, or relax, or discuss the role with Ogels, discuss the script, build more information for the scene in the second half of the forest, and complete the script writing.

Tonight, after filming and dinner, Lance, Whishaw, and John left the hotel and drove to the town of Sneem, because according to the staff's feedback, the only movie theater in the town will show a Buster-Keaton special tonight.

Buster Keaton is a slightly less familiar name to casual movie fans or amateur movie buffs, but for veteran fans, it's one of the greatest comedians of all time: the battle over who is the greatest comedian of the mime era between Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton has never stopped.

Slightly different from Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton is known as the "cold-faced smiler", he was born into a family of vaudevillers, was influenced by vaudeville and burlesque from an early age, and later gradually transformed into a creative performance artist, his performance has its own unique charm -

The character is always expressionless, even in panic or fear or admiration, he is still solemn and awe-inspiring, but he is able to create a visual image that matches his inner emotional state through his body language, and convey his emotions and emotions to the audience.

It is true that Charlie Chaplin is a master of comedy, but Buster Keaton's historical status is no less impressive, and works such as "The General", "Sherlock Holmes II", "Seven Chances", "Hospitality" and other works are classics worthy of going down in history. Unfortunately, the comedy master has never been able to get rid of the problem of alcoholism, and the golden period of his career only lasted about six years, and then his artistic creativity plummeted due to alcohol, coupled with the rapid rise of sound films, which also accelerated the fall of the comedy king, and he was drowned in the bright stars of Hollywood.

To this day, Buster Keaton's fame for young moviegoers is nowhere near par with Charlie Chaplin's. But in fact, from an artistic point of view, Keaton at his peak was not only not inferior to Chaplin, but may even be a step ahead, and "The General" was at the top of many authoritative comedy lists.

It was a huge surprise to learn that the movie theater in the small town of Snim was willing to show the Buster Keaton special.

Not only because this is a master of comedy, but also because this is a master of "cold smile" - what he is best at is conveying absurd humor through body language while his face is expressionless, which is undoubtedly a rare learning opportunity for actors who are filming "Lobster" - to learn from the past, and perhaps combine their own roles to get a different kind of inspiration in the process of watching the movie.

So, Lan Li decided to go to the small-town cinema to watch a movie after a day's work, along with Whishaw and John.

What is a little surprising is that in the crew, three people with completely different personalities, styles, and characteristics have unexpectedly become good friends, just like David, the lame man and the big tongue man in the movie form a team, and the three actors always gather together to talk and laugh.

John's humor, Whisshaw's delicacy, and Lan Li's wit are wonderfully harmonious, and this also facilitates a common outing tonight.

Olivia jokingly called it "a date for a man's night".

“…… I've watched 'The Photographer', but it's just a clip, I've seen it on the TV channel before, and the short clip is over quickly, and to be honest, that's not Keaton's peak form, I can tell now that the conflict between Keaton and MGM is already showing signs of it, but I still have to admit that Keaton's body language is really good, and improvisation is undoubtedly the source of his talent. Lan Li told the story of his memory.

Whishaw then agreed, "Unfortunately, MGM didn't think so, so they 'killed' Keaton." ”

John had other opinions, "It's not so much MGM that killed Keaton, it's the on-set system that killed the traditional on-the-spot comedy." ”

"It's as if the superhero movies of the assembly line are now killing the creative inspiration of traditional popcorn movies?" Lan Li's response made both Whishaw and John laugh.

Looking back at history in the modern era, Buster Keaton's most glorious six years were from 1923 to 1928, when all his works were independently produced by small film companies, but the distribution rights were handed over to MGM, which also retained his improvisation ability and on-site flexibility, and his artistic talent was free, during which he created twelve works, each of which was a masterpiece and a success.

In 1928, due to a series of special events, Buster finally decided to officially sign a contract with MGM and became an exclusive artist under MGM.

Although Buster's first work with MGM, "Cinematographer", is still a classic, he lost control of the film and no technical team to support him, which made Buster begin to enter the studio's fixed routine. As MGM's first action comedy star, the crew on the set was completely blank, and they didn't even know how to use the props, especially after entering the sound film, the set of the production process became more and more strict, which also tied Buster's hands and feet.

Buster could not improvise directly without a script as before, and could only shoot with a script according to the requirements of the set, and because of the specifications of the use of the set - use time, budget, etc., Buster could not carefully carve his work, let alone design the action as he wanted, and had to use stunt doubles to ensure the shooting schedule, which also made Buster's creative vitality and rhythm decline significantly.

Of course, Buster's alcoholism and the impact of the sound film era accelerated this process, while the assembly line of the studio system ensured the number of films and the bottom line of film quality, but stifled the vitality of artistic creators.

Similar tragedies have occurred in every era, even now.

Lan Li and his entourage teased each other and joked at the cinema, and then they saw an old and dilapidated traditional cinema, as if walking into the "Paradise Cinema", unlike those large chain cinemas that have formed an entertainment center, so the traditional cinema is purer and simpler, carrying the beauty of childhood memories.

Among the three people, the happiest and most excited is John - compared to the thirty-four-year-old Whishaw and the twenty-five-year-old Lan Li, John, who is forty-nine years old this year, has felt the charm of light and shadow in such movie theaters since he was a child, and those good memories are surging up, "Now those traditional movie theaters in Los Angeles are almost unsupportable, I was still lamenting the end of the era with them some time ago, but I didn't expect to see it here." ”

John entered the cinema with brisk steps, and there was only one screening hall in the entire cinema, and only one movie could be shown at each time, which also meant that the waiting audience in the hall was all ready to watch the same movie, and the neighbors in the town all knew each other, and the friendly atmosphere suddenly came to the face.

"I remember that the cinemas had their own brochures, and I went to check them out. John jumped and couldn't suppress his excitement and moved sideways like a crab walking, and then remembered something, and said to Lan Li again, "Can you ask if we can watch two shows in a row tonight?" I have a hunch that tonight must be very interesting. ”

Before Lan Li could reply, John nearly tripped himself and stumbled.

Lan Li and Whisshaw both laughed, and Lan Li patted Whisshaw on the shoulder, "You go over and watch him, I'll go buy a movie ticket." Do you need popcorn or Coke?"

"No, I don't. My dinner hasn't been digested yet. Whisshaw didn't refuse, but with a helpless expression, he ran quickly towards John.

Lan Li turned around and walked in the direction of the ticket counter, smiled politely at the conductor at the counter, stopped in front of the counter, raised his head and looked at the table above, "Oh...... 'Little Bill Steamboat', this is an unexpected surprise, I thought it was only those well-known classics, I didn't expect to meet a special gift tonight, is it my lucky day? Please give me three tickets, thank you." ”

The young man standing at the counter saw Lan Li's bright smile head-on: no hat, no sunglasses, no makeup, no cover at all, just standing calmly in front of him, the young man couldn't help swallowing two mouthfuls of saliva, but he still felt that his throat was very dry.

"Hmm...... Belch...... Hey, Lan Li!" The boy plucked up the courage to say hello and showed a smile that was uglier than crying, "Welcome to Snim." Did you come here to watch the movie?"

"Yes, who can miss the Buster Keaton special?" Lan Li chuckled briskly, clearly in a good mood.