Volume 1: A sound on Wall Street, Xinxiang City is busy copying books Chapter 255 Good Script
Subtitle of this chapter: CHAO opens a new world
"CUT!"
"BRAVO! Well played!"
“Snap! Snap! Snap!”
After this segment was over, there were enthusiastic cheers and applause. Our Master Yuan looked in the direction of the sound and couldn't help but frown and asked, "Mr. Theodore Edison, why are you here?"
"Ah?" Little Edison was stunned for a moment, then he said confidently: "Mr. Yuan, this is my warehouse, can't I come and take a look?"
Yuan Yan suddenly thought about it and realized that it was right. She pretended not to see this little Edison and turned to the director and said, "Lillian, I didn't expect the first take to go so smoothly. Your rehearsals these past few days have been really efficient."
Now is not the cocktail party night of December 12, 1920, but six days later. Today, the female star and director dressed a little... well, it can really be said to be shocking, because she wore a men's suit.
In 1920, women wearing men's clothing was definitely considered bizarre. To use Seres' words, it was "clothing demons". If I were unlucky, I would be thrown into the market, that is, beheaded. At that time, Western women dressed as men were also very avant-garde. There was a plot in "Downton Abbey" about the period before and after World War I, in which the third sister wore a pair of pants to dinner and caused a stir.
Miss Lillian Gish dressed like this to make herself look more like a great director. Of course, Master Yuan, who has a very "avant-garde" aesthetic taste, also likes the neutral dress of "Ms. Lover".
The beautiful lady in men's clothing said with a smile: "That's because your script is well-written. Everyone really felt that they couldn't let such a good script down, so they worked very hard."
To be honest, the script of "Twelve People" is really good.
The most crucial factor is naturally the creator. The time traveler Yuan Yanshu actually already has a... well, actually four ready-made classic scripts from the United States, Russia, China and Japan. He just changed the case and the characters, and the main line did not need to be changed at all.
Of course, the Chinese and Japanese versions of the four versions of "12 Angry Men" are a bit out of tune with the United States in 1920, so they are of little reference value. In particular, the neon version of "12 Gentle Japanese" is too playful and filmed like a psychopath. It is better to call it a comedy than a drama.
The Russian version was shot by Nikita Mikhalkov, a national treasure director in Russia, who is known as the Steven Spielberg of Russia. However, his ambition is too big. This film condenses the current situation of the fragmented and painful struggle of Russian society after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, and at the same time, it also interrogates human nature. The 12 jurors in the play endlessly recount the history of revolutionaries: Jewish intellectuals, the Chechen War, the Nazi Party, gambling, the Caucasus, the CCCP, class divisions... and so on. This is too demanding for actors and directors. Even if our Master Yuan wanted to shoot it, he couldn't do it.
However, he was not too satisfied with the original American version. Like most Hollywood movies, the leading actor played by Henry Fonda had too much screen time and was too glorious, while the supporting roles were too stereotyped and empty, which greatly weakened the criticism of reality and the display of human nature.
Therefore, every character in Yuan Yanshu's "Twelve People" is closer to ordinary people.
For example, the protagonist he "played", juror No. 6, was a playboy. The reason why he was the only one who believed that the defendant was not guilty at the beginning was that he had some sympathy for women and could not bear to deprive a beautiful woman of her life with a vote of just a few minutes.
So juror No. 6 proposed to review the case carefully at least once before voting. Just like the original novel, if everyone still believes that the defendant is guilty, he will not raise any objections again. The plot unfolds from here...
Since the main creator Yuan Yanshu replaced a fictional case of patricide with a real case of husband murder, the theme of the film naturally changed and went in the direction of feminism.
I have to point out that feminism has become a fairly “safe” public issue after the Progressive Era. If our Master Yuan were to now advocate racial equality, he would be deported back to China even if he had a tacit understanding with the Republicans; if he were to come out and loudly declare himself an atheist, then this Ph.D. from New York University would be in jeopardy; if he were to work towards becoming the successor to communism…
"Pika Pika."
But he is fighting for the legitimate rights of women. Anyone who scolds him is a feudal remnant who goes against the trend, let alone America, even in Serbia. For this master of neoclassical liberalism, scolding is healthier and freer.
What’s even better is that this feminist theme is very suitable for these twelve screenwriters to “co-create” together.
They are all professional writers, among whom Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather, TS Eliot, Fitzgerald and Mr. Craftsman are real writers without any impurities, and they all have leftist tendencies. Well, Mr. Craftsman can be excluded.
The others are also intellectuals who make a living from writing. Even if they haven't eaten anything, they have seen something, and at least their reading volume is not comparable to that of ordinary people. They can still barely build the inner world of a simple character.
The 12 jurors realized from the beginning that the defendant's husband was not a good person, and Mrs. Dempsey could at least use self-defense to exonerate herself from the charge of murder.
At this time, some people, such as Ms. Cather, a "devout Christian", jumped out to accuse the defendant of having an affair. Following this line of thought, they turned their attention to the salesman and found that he was not a good person either, and was highly suspected of lying.
Then they began to study the witnesses such as the landlord and the neighbors, and once again found that these guys were also bad guys who wanted to take advantage of the defendant. It is very likely that those witnesses were angry because they had been rejected by Mrs. Dempsey in the past and wrongly accused the poor woman.
The scene became awkward, and the 12 jurors began to feel guilty towards the women one after another. They finally realized that they were also one of the culprits of this tragedy.
As the plot unfolds, they examine the murder case and their own relationship with the women around them. Through these male characters from all walks of life, the film ultimately examines the marriage and social status of men and women.
The theme is elevated instantly, isn’t it?
No wonder, as a woman, Miss Lillian Gish liked this script so much. She saw the shadow of her mother in the character of Mrs. Dempsey, and her mother ran away with her two sisters, Fern, because of domestic violence.
She didn't really want to be the director of "12" at first, thinking she wasn't capable enough, but in the end she just couldn't bear to give it up, so she had to bite the bullet and do it.
Of course, also because our Master Yuan presided over and created such an outstanding script, her love for Ni'ao has become even stronger, and she has unlocked several new postures in the past few days.
