When the New Year came, Levi, who was far away in China, finally knew about the excitement caused by Rabe's Diary in the United States.
It can be said that Rabe's Diary set off a very fierce storm in the United States and caused a lot of controversy after the movie was released.
What Americans think most about is their aversion to war. Coupled with the war in Afghanistan and the current situation in which Americans are constantly in fights with Iraq, the post-war scenes reflected in this movie have also made the American people's anti-war sentiments high.
In China, the film also caused a lot of controversy. Although some believe that the film excessively glorifies foreigners and vilifies the Japanese army, some defend the Japanese. After the movie, people were extremely emotional for a while, including nostalgia for Rabe and remembering the past.
In Japan, Rabe's Diary was banned because the movie involved Prince Hatohiko, a royal family member.
Even the Japanese actor Teruyuki Kagawa, who played this role, was questioned and boycotted by many media in Japan. Many people accused him that he should not play the image of an invading army. This also put his life under pressure for a while.
When Levi heard about this pressure, he also responded to him.
"If you are unhappy in Japan, go to Hollywood and find me. I will help you make arrangements there."
To this kindness, Kagawa Teruyuki just expressed his gratitude but politely refused, "I think it's not necessary. I hope to stay in Japan. I acted in this movie because I think a Japanese must play this role. After all, the Japanese invaded. The Japanese should perform this to illustrate the reflection of the Japanese. Since I have the courage to reflect, I must also have the courage to face the right-wing forces."
Regarding his persistence, Levi quite admired. However, while admiring him, he also had some regrets: He wanted Kagawa Teruyuki to pursue a career in Hollywood. He was not joking; he was telling the truth.
Because at this time, there are other Asian actors who want to go to Hollywood.
While filming the movie here in China, someone else also found Levi. Although Levi is very busy now, he still received his old friends.
Rabe's Diary is now selling like hotcakes, and it has also allowed people in Asia to see that Levi is indeed helping Asian films to be distributed in the United States.
Seeing this opportunity, Sammo Hung from Hong Kong, after hearing that Levi was filming a movie in Beijing, came here to meet Levi. He wants to show his film in the United States.
This movie is his latest work, a kung fu movie starring Yan Zhen. Compared with before, he did listen to some of Levi's advice, and the fight scenes shot in the film were more realistic.
However, the investment in this movie is still a bit small, and the story is still a bit scattered. The chronic disease of kung fu movies has not changed.
The situation of Hong Kong people is still a problem that is difficult to reverse.
However, since he said he would help him, Levi did not refuse and asked Alexander to take the time to arrange the matter and help him contact the distributing company.
This incident made Sammo Hung very happy. He originally wanted to ask for directions, but seeing Levi willing to help, he was quite satisfied. While he was overjoyed, he also told Levi another thing: There were other people in Hong Kong who wanted to see Levi.
This time, it was another Hong Kong actor, Leslie Cheung, who found Levi.
He had an acquaintance with Levi a long time ago when Levi was not very famous, and he did not take Levi's promise too seriously. But within a few years, Levi gradually became a big shot in Hollywood, and it can be said that he has made rapid progress.
Under such circumstances, he never contacted Levi - he was a knowledgeable person, and he would be willing to cooperate with someone of similar status, but with someone whose status was too much higher than his own, even if they had some contacts in the past, he was not willing to reach out to them.
However, some things in life make people feel unsatisfactory. Leslie Cheung lives in Hong Kong, and there are some things that bother him. Under pressure, he also wants to go outside.
At this time, Levi helped Sammo Hung distribute the movie and asked him to inquire about Levi's personality. After hearing that Levi was a pretty good person, he also requested Sammo Hung for help and found Levi. After confirming with his own eyes that Levi was indeed quite friendly, he also asked Levi to help him and go to the United States to rest for a while.
He wanted to go to the United States. This fact did not surprise Levi.
Levi had heard some rumors about Leslie Cheung. In his early years, some people approached him to seek development in Hollywood. However, he was unwilling to go to the United States because he believed that Hollywood always liked to belittle Asian culture and let Asians play clown-like roles.
It can be said that he is quite resistant to Hollywood - this resistance is actually not wrong. In fact, the road for Asian actors to develop in Hollywood is very difficult, especially for Chinese male actors. Except for martial arts stars, they do not develop well.
In Hong Kong, although the money is less than in the United States, it is definitely good for your career, and this choice is also very wise.
However, now he has proposed that he wants to go to the United States for development.
In the past life, he was going to commit suicide in less than half a year, and there were different opinions on the cause of death. There was no conclusion yet, but many people thought it was depression.
Levi also understood a little: It seems when he lived in Hong Kong, he was not happy. The most important thing is not to develop his career but to live in a different environment for a while.
Of course, Levi welcomed this: if nothing else, it was very worthwhile to be able to prevent him from dying.
However, Levi knew very well that he said he was going to the United States to rest, but since he found Levi, it was definitely not really for rest.
He heard that there are many reasons for his depression in Hong Kong. Apart from life, the biggest problem in his career is that he has been seeking to transform into a director, but no one is willing to help him.
This time, he was willing to go to the United States. Firstly, he was really depressed in Hong Kong. Secondly, it was also because Levi still attached great importance to Asian culture. He also wanted to try and see if Levi could give him some help.
And since Levi wanted to help him, just help him to the end.
"If you are willing to go to the United States, then I have something I want to ask you to do. I want to try to produce a TV series and show it in the United States.
Of course, This TV series may still have an American protagonist; after all, it is aimed at American audiences. But the central core selling point of this TV series is Kung Fu.
I hope you will play a more important role in the TV series. As the main supporting role, you can help me. Of course, if possible, I can also discuss and let the crew arrange to give you some opportunities to be a director.
What do you think?"
Levi knew that Leslie Cheung didn't directly propose that he wanted to go to the United States to develop. To leave room for maneuvering for himself, Levi offered it very tactfully.
This proposal surprised Leslie Cheung. He did not expect that Levi would give him not a movie role but a TV series role. He didn't really want to act in a TV series, but Levi was willing to let him try being a director, which made him hesitate.
In fact, the plan proposed by Levi was the best method he could think of.
It is difficult for Asians to appear in American movies and TV dramas because Chinese Americans are not a mainstream group. There are not many opportunities for Chinese actors in the United States.
However, Kung Fu film and television works can be said to be an exception. This kind of work can be said to be the last exclusive territory of Hong Kong movies. Only they can act in this kind of movies.
Levi came up with this idea because he was a little dissatisfied with Sammo Hung: Two years have passed, and he didn't expect that Hong Kong people still don't have the courage to become great.
So he decided to try it himself.
"Actually, this story is very simple. It is about an American boy who meets a Chinese girl who practices martial arts, learns martial arts from her, and then fights with martial artists from various schools in the world. In this story, you can play the role of the Chinese girl's master and appear as a wise man and martial arts master in the TV series, and that's okay."
Levi's source material is some popular online martial arts novels that he has seen. Compared with traditional martial arts films, these novels are at least slightly more realistic.
Although they are still far from reality, compared with the new martial arts genre, they are always more realistic, and some of these stories are still attractive.
They can also be made into a film and television drama. If it is paired with handsome men and beautiful women and a love story, some people will like this kind of TV drama.
In Levi's conception, this movie is probably similar to superhero movies or vampire hunters. The structure of Buffy is similar, except that the protagonist's ability is not superpowers but martial arts.
In Levi's memory, such things will really exist in Hollywood in the future, but what is more helpless is that they still can't get rid of Hollywood's traditional contempt for Eastern culture, and the taste of the things they produce is completely wrong.
In this regard, Levi also considered whether he could shoot something to try the fusion. This experiment is worth doing.
And his experiment naturally refers to TV series - this thing is the best experimental field for him.
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Marcelo Maia
Britanna
Mandy G
Scott DePaepe
Danny York
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.