The Best Director-Chapter 510 - : Premiere
Chapter 510: Chapter 510: Premiere
The night sky was sprinkled with twinkling stars, and the bright moonlight poured down as cinemas across North America welcomed another peak of audience entry this summer. Moviegoers chatted and laughed as they bought tickets, sprayed a bucket of popcorn and cola, and walked into the theatres; those who arrived late and couldn’t get tickets were frustrated.
“Hehehe!” Anyway, the cinema owners were all smiles, “the savior of the box office,” the magical Yang has come! Arriving alongside were giant Autobots like Optimus Prime and Megatron.
“50 years from now, when you look back on today, won’t you regret not having the courage to get on this ride?” The $150 million PG-13 sci-fi action movie “Transformers” debuted in 4,011 North American cinemas, filling the theatres with youthful exuberance. The cool transformer Bumblebee and the hot and sexy Megan Fox wowed the audience. Special effects, explosive action, LOSERS, beauties, defeating the big bad guy…
Despite the presence of a divine work like “Iron Man” before it, it was still a heavyweight summer blockbuster. The story was average, the people were average, but adrenaline surged and surged! Coupled with crazy promotions and countless eager Autobot fans, the combat power of “Transformers” was definitely more than B-.
At the same time, perhaps next door, a chill silently flowed among the full-house audience. Most of the viewers were expressionless and tense, only moving occasionally when eating popcorn. The $180 million PG-13 sci-fi thriller “I Am Legend” premiered in 4,015 cinemas.
On the big screen was a desolate wasteland, the streets of Manhattan, New York, overgrown with swaying wild grass, the buildings on either side covered in a dust-like layer of decay. Will Smith, who played “Neville,” walked down the empty street with a rifle, with the dog Sam by his side, all in silence.
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“”…”I like this feeling.”…”Shh!” In a cinema in New York City, the audience was particularly immersed. Those who had heckled and given the middle finger during the “blockade shooting” incident now turned their thumbs up, the best viewing experience! Some quietly shifted their attitudes; some were glad Wang Yang had set the story in New York; others couldn’t help but quietly praise to a friend. As soon as he spoke up, many in the audience glanced his way and shushed in unison. Don’t disturb them! Don’t pull them back from that apocalyptic world!
“Shh!” Natalie also shushed seriously, her eyes never leaving the big screen. She didn’t want to miss any detail of the shot; the effect was too good! Yang was right, only with this kind of live-action filming could the actors and audience be brought the most authentic and profound texture.
Ever since the formation of the dashing Charlie Film Company at the beginning of the year and the direction of the 20-minute short film “Eve,” preparing to participate in next month’s Venice Film Festival, Natalie understood more clearly how hard it is to be a good director. Besides liking that guy more, she allowed herself to learn more from the perspectives of a director and a producer, to view and consider things, and could appreciate how crazy that guy was.
The producers were all clear on this point. Releasing a necessarily oppressive film like “I Am Legend” during the flashy summer season was something only the magical Yang dared to do!
As a result of established traditions and changes, viewers have different viewing mentalities throughout the year, which affects the scheduling choices for blockbusters. A summer slot without enough popcorn is no good. A solo story like “I Am Legend,” especially since Wang Yang was likely not to create a simple summer blockbuster of a “superhero killing zombies to save the world” but rather something like “Cast Away,” was even more suitable for a Christmas release, because the calm mindset of viewers during that time, the weather, award season, and festive atmosphere would make them want to watch art pieces.
A few years ago, “District 9” was in the cooler month of August, and now “I Am Legend” is directly in midsummer July, clashing head-on with “Transformers.”
As clever and sharp as Wang Yang was, he would not be ignorant of these things, but he still did it anyway. The Flame Film Company had made this arrangement, so everyone vaguely knew that the guy probably did it on purpose. He purposely did it that way.
Of course, he had the credentials to do so. That’s the way things were. If “I Am Legend” carried someone else’s banner, maybe the audience wouldn’t be able to settle down to appreciate it. But if it was under the banner of the magical Yang, it was entirely different. To put it plainly, even if he randomly shot some footage to compile into a 90-minute movie, people would find a lot of insight and applaud it; they would find logic where there was none because it was shot by Wang Yang.
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However, that wasn’t the case. The imagery on the big screen was indeed very, very impressive! Critics like Kirk Honeycutt, Peter Howell, Kyle Smith, and Roger Ebert were inwardly sighing. After just a dozen minutes of screening, the film had already shaped a near-perfect sense of isolation and loneliness, a post-apocalyptic tapestry slowly unfolding. Because of Sam’s presence, the atmosphere was not too oppressive; instead, there was always a sense of fun and warmth.
“Hey! Good morning, Maggie. Good morning, Fred. What are you doing here so early? That’s a nice dress, Fred; don’t wrinkle it. See you inside.”
On the big screen, Neville opened the door to the audio-video store, chatting with two mannequins at the door. Following Sam, who barked once, he walked into the quiet store.
As viewers watched the daily life of Neville, many began to understand why Wang Yang called it “open-ended thinking.” In a media interview, he had said, “You know its entertainment value won’t be low, everyone doesn’t need to worry about that; it certainly involves some thinking, I believe that’s open-ended. Most of the time, the film won’t tell you any lessons, not even pose questions, but you will think about them, you’ll think about them when you find yourself in a specific environment. What we’re doing, is building a real post-apocalyptic world on screen.”
If you became the last person on Earth like Neville, with the city crawling with ferocious mutants, what would you do?
“Feels awesome,” “Interesting,” the audience chuckled as they saw Will Smith shop around in self-amusement; some film lovers didn’t think it was just self-entertainment, much like the volleyball “Wilson” in Cast Away, it’s a form of mental sustenance under the pressure of prolonged loneliness.
In fact, if a person goes years without speaking or interacting, they’ll likely become insane or commit suicide. Nancy, who was watching the film, knew that Wang Yang and Will Smith had researched together, conversing with real former prisoners of war to capture the true behavior of a person when they are solely in their own company.
One thing you have to do is make plans, like “cleaning your nails” for instance; you could spend two hours doing that, it’s the only way to keep sane and survive; you must train your brain to accomplish daily tasks, and learn to speak to yourself, have internal dialogues. Without stimulation, getting used to not having anyone talk to you, you’d lose reactionary stimuli. A POW once said that he sat in his cell and tried for four hours to remember some names but just couldn’t recall them.
If not for the film’s subtle expression through details, ordinary viewers would never know this science, and film critics can see that these details should pertain to “science and counter-science,” one of the main themes of the original novel I Am Legend which is being adapted into a film for the third time, and Wang Yang seems finally ready to showcase it.
As a film of the same genre, it’s hard not to compare I Am Legend with recent benchmarks like 28 Days Later. If Magical Yang spent $180 million and couldn’t produce something better and more impactful than a movie made with $8 million, not only would Yang fans be disappointed, they’d undoubtedly be mocked by Yang haters: “Might as well have just released I Am Omega!” However, Yang fans can rest easy for now; there seem to be no problems. Worthy of a big production, worthy of a great director! The shots, scenes, and special effects it showcases are incomparable to 28 Days Later or 28 Weeks Later.
Whether it will win out in the end remains to be seen. A few years ago, 28 Days Later scored 88%/87%/82% on Rotten Tomatoes, partly because it broke away from the typical B-grade end-of-world zombie film and made a profound exploration of human nature.
Now, the realness of the apocalypse in I Am Legend sends shivers down the spine, different from the pacing and pattern of previous films in the genre, and the acting skills of Will Smith and Sam are so adept and powerful; post-apocalyptic fans love it, and non-fans enjoy it too. Opposite to the bustling Iron Man, I Am Legend is like the chilling cold of winter, cooling and refreshing. What they share in common is… they’re both so cool.
Continuing to watch Neville search for survivors, pursuing his research on a cure serum, watching television shows, quick flashes of mass evacuation… Rachel was completely immersed in that world, not blinking an eye; she felt it was far better than Iron Man.
It seemed like there really were no other survivors! When Neville found a tender surprise note from an apartment owner during his search, his eyes moistened, and the audience’s hearts tightened, wondering… there was no way Magical Yang would set up a tragic ending, right? Evelyn had a good reason; he wasn’t a 21 or 22-year-old guy anymore. His daughter was over a year and a half old; he wouldn’t want to scare the kids, right? District 9 was rated R, I Am Legend was PG-13, she believed there would be a happy ending.
Clair, however, didn’t think so. Magical Yang’s films were always distinct, always influencing the audience. He used to shoot like that even without an Oscar for Best Director, now with one in each hand, what kind of “surprise” would he bring? The original novel’s “I Am Legend”?
Seeing Neville casually playing golf on the USS Intrepid, the audience again found it amusing, really good at entertaining oneself! These details could be trivial, or they could be fascinating and memorable. Critics like Richard Roeper and Jack Matthews nodded silently; Magical Yang’s skill at handling drama had always been profound, never dull, but rather compelling. As it revealed more aspects of life in the apocalypse, it was also laying out the plot and building themes gradually.
“Yawn…” Of course, not everyone was enjoying it; in the thousands of cinemas, there were always people yawning, expecting it to be as good as Firefly, little did they realize it would just be Smith walking back and forth. A film for fans? If they’d known, they would have seen Transformers instead. What crap was Wang Yang pulling!
But then a tense change came, as Sam ran into the dark and dangerous warehouse while chasing a deer, and Neville frantically chased after her, shouting, “Sam, Sam! Sam!…”
Everyone’s hearts clenched suddenly! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
