"Is that why you created 'The Beast' in the first place?"

This is Joel's question, and in those impatient words, there is hidden enthusiasm and excitement, which is surging and churning, which reminds Lan Li of the first meeting between the two in Berlin.

Joel was always so, impulsive, restless, urgent. On the negative side, it's a lack of control, but on the positive side, it's pure simplicity.

People always like to define a stranger by first impressions, but many times, first impressions are too one-sided, and the problem is that most people have no patience to continue to explore the other possibilities behind the first impression.

Facing Joel's thirsty/hopeful gaze, Lan Li gently nodded in affirmation.

"On the road of chasing self, people see the glory and glory after success, but they do not see the loneliness and loneliness before success. On that lonely land with no way out, there are too many helpless souls trapped, they persist, struggle, struggle, and use their own flesh and blood to forge beauty and crowns. It's never about ballads or movies, it's about itself. ”

"I mean, Don Quixote was a success, and the Coen brothers were successful, so people started to pay attention to, this is a folk album, this is an independent film, why did you choose a ballad? And why did you create it like that? But, it failed? What if we failed?"

Then no one cares, whether it's a ballad or an independent film, it doesn't matter anymore.

Not only Joel and Ethan, but even Lan Li himself showed a slight surprise - he and the Coen brothers were not even nodding friends, and suddenly they were discussing such a profound topic, and the pace of the conversation felt a little strange, and it always felt that something was not quite right.

This is normal if the conversation is set in Europe. Even two strangers who don't know each other at all may constantly express their opinions, insist on their own opinions, engage in in-depth games and exchanges, and even blush because of a political, philosophical or artistic topic, which is a cultural ethos.

But, this is the United States.

The point is not in Lan Li's gushing, but on the Coen brothers' immediate reaction.

After a brief period of consternation, Joel's eyes lit up slightly, and became brighter and brighter, as if he could see that soul through those eyes, gradually becoming alive and full of vitality, and that flash of brilliance instantly made Joel Cohen's ordinary appearance different.

The good-looking skins are the same, and the interesting souls are one in a thousand. This is especially true in the art world. The soul that dwells in the skin is talented, and it is always able to burst out with a unique temperament, which makes people ignore the external image and be simply and profoundly fascinated by it.

Tony Kaye, George Slander, Alfonso Cuarón, and now the Coen brothers, all have different personalities and temperaments, but they all share similar traits.

"That's him. Joel spoke without warning, patting his thigh categorically, and then shaking Ethan's shoulder vigorously, "Ethan, I'll tell you, it's him." He's the inspiration, you see, he's the inspiration!"

Joel swayed so hard that Ethan's glasses almost fell off.

Ethan had to hold on to the frame of his glasses and smiled apologetically at Lan Li, "I'm sorry, he's always too excited." ”

"Excited, of course I'm excited. We've found it!" Joel was still immersed in his own thoughts, unable to extricate himself, and then he saw Lan Li's inexplicable expression, and immediately moved forward excitedly, almost falling directly to the ground.

But he didn't care about himself at all, grabbed Lan Li's knee, and his voice began to tremble uncontrollably because of excitement, "We are conceiving a film of folk singers, and in you, we find inspiration, and in the album 'Don Quixote', we find inspiration. God, we found it, we really found it!"

A movie invitation is actually a movie invitation.

Unexpected, but reasonable.

When the Coen brothers took the initiative to contact Andy, Lan Li's first guess was that the Sundance Film Festival, through the bridge of independent films, put aside the personal impressions of each other, meet again in Park City, unite and contribute to the advancement of the industry.

It is common sense, that is because after experiencing ups and downs and ups and downs, Lanli's absolute strength has been recognized countless times, especially after the box office success of "Edge of Tomorrow", there will be more and more objects who take the initiative to extend an olive branch, film companies, producers, directors, screenwriters, etc., which will gradually become a norm.

After Joel revealed his true purpose, Lan Li and Andy quickly exchanged glances, revealing a look of understanding.

The suspense was finally revealed, the mood of doubt and speculation vanished, and the tense and jerky atmosphere eased.

The corners of Andy's mouth rose slightly, and he invisibly retracted his chin in appreciation, and Roy and Nathan both relaxed, and when the truth came out, there was only a slight surprise, and then the two of them exuded a natural calm, and did not seem to be too excited about the Coen brothers' initiative.

The Coen brothers are not only leading figures in the field of American independent films, but also a force to be reckoned with in the world film industry. Among all Lan Li's current works, the Coen brothers are undoubtedly the biggest and top directors-

Tony Kaye and Paul Greengrass are not top-notch, and Steven Spielberg is just a producer of "War in the Pacific," not a director.

Still, after a magical and glorious year, the collaboration of big-name directors should be said to have come naturally, as was Alfonso Cuarón and the Coen brothers.

However, Lan Li couldn't agree.

In fact, personally, Lan Li is very fond of the style of the Coen brothers.

"Ice Blood Storm", "Three Kings Who Escaped from Prison", "Murder of Green Toes", "No Country for Old Men", etc., these are all particularly excellent works, satirizing social reality in black humor, cold and piercing cruelty is hidden in the camera and picture, and the kind of easy-to-use and easy-to-use temperament with a kind of banter and ridicule always gives the work a unique temperament.

Objectively speaking, the Coen brothers are directors with extremely distinctive styles, but they are not directors who are good at tuning/coaching actors.

In their works, they rely more on the self-interpretation and play of actors, such as Francis McDormand in "Ice Storm", Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men", Jeff Bridges in "Earth Thunder", etc. The performance style of the co-actors will greatly affect the completion of the finished work.

But for actors, this is undoubtedly an opportunity to challenge themselves, challenging their ability to understand the script, deepen the connotation, explore the director, interpret the role, and control the performance. Within the framework of the Coen brothers' style, interpreting and interpreting their own content is bound to be a lot of fun.

If possible, Lan Li is very happy to cooperate with the Coen brothers, and even eager to try, but unfortunately, Lan Li's schedule is already full.

The West End and Broadway tours of "Les Miserables" will not end in the short term, and will be in October at the earliest, followed by the filming of "Gravity", the filming cycle cannot be predicted for the time being, but there will definitely be no slots in the year, and the schedule will not be able to see the end for the time being.

Therefore, even if he was reluctant, even if he was helpless, Lan Li still had to refuse.

However, Joel didn't leave any room to interject at all, and after opening the conversation, he couldn't stop at all, and gushed out, "I accidentally saw a Grammy performance, oh no, it should be the video of the winning speech, the one after you won the album of the year, and it awakened the memories in my mind, those memories of the sixties." ”

As he spoke, Joel began to dance, his expression was rich, his eyes were bright, and his excitement could not be suppressed.

"It was a time when folk singers were booming, and there were countless great songs that were not only musical achievements, but also historical and social witnesses, and those fragments about society, about politics/governance, about culture, about life, all of them were hidden in the lyrics, and it is no exaggeration to say that many singers were poets, and really changed the cultural composition of the entire American society. ”

The words are like a beating melody of musical notes, colliding between the lips and teeth, stirring up surging emotions, and the frenzy can be deeply felt between the lines.

Not only Joel, but Ethan, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but stir up the mood and joined in the conversation, "In that context, the whole society is in turmoil, and countless people, I mean, literally, are eager to be part of this craze, as if they want to be a folk singer as long as they can open their mouths to sing." ”

"It doesn't matter who you are, the most important thing is that you are part of this wave of ballads. It seems to be an ordinary sentence, but it hides too many deep meanings. When Ethan uttered these words, there was an astonishing zeal and madness in the depths of his eyes, defining his existence as an artistic creator.

Joel seamlessly picked up the topic, his hands clenched into fists waving uncontrollably, "Now, in you, in that acceptance speech, we once again glimpse the glory and glory of that time, and we want to make a film about folk songs, telling the story of an entire generation of musicians, but also the story of the tide of the whole era." ”

"To be honest, it's hard to imagine that in the 21st century, there are still people who are sticking to a piece of pure land in their hearts, and even more commendable is that you are only 22 years old, God, it's really incredible. So, Joel said, why don't we make a film about this young man? I nodded in agreement. ”

Finally, Ethan looked at Lan Li with burning eyes, and his tone was full of impatience and eagerness, "We have created a tailor-made work based on you. ”