Hollywood in 2004, as usual, began with the hustle and bustle of the Oscars.

This year's Oscars belong to Peter. Jackson's year: With The Lord of the Rings 3, he finally became famous, the movie won multiple Oscars, swept almost all technical awards, and was destined to become a classic, which made him extremely happy.

And this year is also a year for outstanding actors to prove themselves: Mystic River won Sean Penn Best Actor, Tim Brown. Robbins won the Best Supporting Actor, and participated in the filming of the female devil to play ugly, so that Winledster finally won the Oscar for Best Actress after being nominated repeatedly, plus Zellweger won the Best Supporting Actress, the actors who won the awards this year can be said to be powerful.

And if there is anyone who is more disappointed this year, then in the eyes of the media, Levy is definitely one of them: after being nominated for an Oscar for four consecutive years, Levy was no longer valued by the Oscars, and then spent more than a year shooting the movie, and then lost to The Lord of the Rings, not only did he not even get a nomination, but also only won one best sound editor in the competition for technical awards. For a great director of his status, this is obviously a year of failure.

Although after the Oscars, many people are upset with Levy, thinking that it is also a blockbuster, and the spiritual connotation of the Three-Body Problem can be said to be much stronger than that of the Lord of the Rings 3, and the Three-Body Problem cannot be nominated, and the Lord of the Rings winning the award is a complete joke. But everyone knows that such words are more of the evaluations of fanatical fans than the mainstream evaluations.

In the eyes of avid movie fans, perhaps a near-real sci-fi story has more connotation and depth than The Lord of the Rings, but in the eyes of the mainstream, Levy's films seem to be inferior to others.

In the past, Levy used to be the darling of the Oscars. But time has passed, and he doesn't seem to be so favored now compared to before. It took two years to devote to a movie. In the end, it still didn't get any praise, compared to the two films that year were both nominated for the year, which is too far behind.

"Perhaps, Levy's peak has passed, and now is not his time."

After the Oscars, even the media did not forget to hype two sentences. When they mentioned Levy, they were also discussing, is Levy no longer what he used to be?

Any director or actor. All have their own creative peaks. In this peak period, they are often very inspired, and they can continue to create miracles one after another, but once this peak is over, it is very difficult for them to reach the heights of the past. Although some directors have been able to maintain a considerable level of excellence since then, but. It's hard to do miracles anymore.

According to this statement, it can indeed be said that Levy is now leaving his peak. It's just that a director has passed his peak so early, which is really surprising.

In general, the top big directors. became famous around the age of 30, whether it was Spielberg or Woody Allen, they all began to emerge at this time. An unliked director like Scorsese. I also became famous at the age of 35. And a director can reach the peak of his career, usually around the age of 40, at this age. It is the golden age of a director - this development route can be said to be the development route of a top director, and Levy became famous earlier than others, and people thought that he might be even more amazing, but who would have thought that he would start to decline so early?

Of course, people admit that even with the decline, Levy is a lot better than many people. After all, his starting point is high, and no matter how he declines, he will be higher than some other directors. However, it is always a bad thing to start a decline so early, and this is also something that people do not want to see.

Such a topic can be described as an excellent gimmick, and after the Oscars, it was also widely discussed for a while. Even if he didn't win any awards, Levy was once the focus of attention at this time.

And this was the case all the way to Jeff. Bridges and Little Cuba. It was only when Godin was interviewed that there was a change.

Of course, the reason for this shift is not because of how high the status of these two people is, nor because of how much truth these two people's words have, but because the two of them are recently preparing to work with Levy to make a new movie.

When it comes to understanding the director, naturally no one is better than the actors. These two actors are both actors who are going to work with Levy recently, and their words naturally have a certain weight.

The two of them are full of praise for Levy.

In fact, long before the Oscars, both of them had already been invited by Mystery to star in Levy's new movie. And unlike the media's attitude of speculating whether Levy has passed his peak, after hearing the invitation, they immediately chose to agree and immediately came to participate in Levy's movie.

"It is extremely rare to be able to work with a director of the level of Director Levy. When I got the call, I immediately thought, no matter what the role, I'm going to do it. Because I believe that he will definitely be able to create a good movie, and the opportunity to participate in a good movie, why not seize it? ”

For this movie, Little Cuba. Godin's attitude was very straightforward.

He basically told the truth: after receiving the news from the mystery company, he just read the script hastily and immediately decided to star.

There are not many second-tier black actors in Hollywood, and in a sense, it is because there are not many black characters in Hollywood movies. It was quite difficult for a black actor to be able to find a suitable role for him, so in Levy proposed a role for Little Cuba. When Godin was invited, he immediately agreed.

Playing a positive role in such a warm and heartfelt movie that reflects true love in the world is something that no black actor can refuse.

And in this regard, Bridges has more or less the same attitude.

"I came in this movie because the character is a very challenging role, and I love the role, it's very difficult to perform. Moreover, this is a real event, telling a true story. Such a story can be very moving. Director Levy was able to shoot such a story and also found me, and I am very grateful to him. ”

In Bridges's interview, what pays more attention is to the difficulty of the performance.

This is also what he said in his heart: he has been participating in film performances since the 50s, and for so many years, he has always hoped that he can be fully recognized. He is no longer young, and it is estimated that he will not be able to act in blockbuster movies anymore. can only expect praise from the critics, and he has always had strong confidence in his acting skills, but how to meet a suitable role has always been something he has been worried about.

And this time, his role can be said to be a character who is extremely competitive for awards. The subject of people with disabilities has always been very popular in the critics' circles. In order to win the award, there is no shortage of people who play fools and lame. And now that he has got the role of a paralyzed man, he is also very satisfied. Moreover, this event is an adaptation of real events - for the critics. The adaptation of real events is also a very popular point, so if the two are combined, if he can act well. Naturally, it will be favored.

Levy gave him this opportunity, how could he not be excited?

So getting the role they wanted, these two people can be said to be extremely excited. And. Compared to the media's speculation based on the awards, they are people who have close contact with Levy, and they know more about Levy.

"I hope you can reflect the contrast between these two people in this movie, in every way. Not only black and white, but also rich and poor, old and young, normal and disabled, literate and uneducated, all aspects of contrast. In this film, you need to show racial discrimination, the problem of caring for people with disabilities, social class conflicts, and the contrast between classical culture and popular culture. But it is important to note that you need to show not only the differences in these areas, but also the commonalities in these things. Cultures are not only different, but also commonal, and these things are the basis for the birth of friendships and feelings. You've got to find that before you can make a good movie. ”

For the filming of the movie, Levy told them from the first day, and this advice immediately made the two of them realize that Levy is indeed level.

What a movie wants to shoot often determines how good or bad the movie is. How a story is is the surface of the movie, and how it is inside is the connotation of the movie. Whether a movie can have enough depth of thought is often an important part of it.

It's something that not everyone pays attention to -- except for black people, no one cares if it scandalizes black people, and no one else cares if it depicts the hearts of people with disabilities. The contrast between rich and poor, old and young can have a comedic effect, which is something that people can think of, but whether these can reflect something more profound is another matter.

The same similar story, someone made a movie, which can make people feel very excited, and after someone shoots it, it makes people feel that they are flattering people. The biggest difference lies in the ideological details hidden behind them. The big aspects are depicted by individuals, but without a consistent inner thought, there will definitely be problems in the details.

Levy can think of contrasts in all aspects, which is a breakthrough compared to emphasizing only one aspect. And the focus of the shooting is on commonality rather than contrast, which is already the profundity of the connotation. This also reminds them of one of the characteristics of Levy's films, which is that there are a lot of details: ideological expressions are often expressed through details. These subtle things can often make thoughts flicker in the movie from time to time, one through the other.

These things are the embodiment of the director's level. With such a director, where is the need to worry about their films?

For a director, no matter how others evaluate it, after all, it is just some irrelevant opinions. As long as a director can still get the support of actors, he will always be able to make new films. The suspicion of the media did not bring any harm to Levy, on the contrary, many people are also paying attention to Levy's new movie, what will happen to Levy's new movie? (To be continued......)