Hollywood in 2004, as usual, started with Oscar buzz.
This Oscar year belongs to Peter Jackson: he finally became famous with Lord of the Rings 3. The movie won multiple Oscars and swept almost all technical awards. It is destined to become a classic, which makes him extremely happy.
This year was also a year for outstanding actors to prove themselves.
Mystic River won both Sean Penn Best Actor and Tim Robbins Best Supporting Actor.
Kate Winslet participated in Monster and finally won the Oscar for Best Actress after being nominated many times.
In addition, Renée Zellweger won the Best Supporting Actress.
It can be said that the actors who won awards this year are all powerful.
And if anyone is more disappointed this year in the eyes of the media, Levi is definitely one of them. After receiving Oscar nominations for four consecutive years, Levi was no longer valued by the Oscars.
The movie he spent a whole year shooting failed miserably to Lord of the Rings. Not only did he not get a single personal nomination, but he only won one award for Best Sound Editing in the competition for technical awards.
This was clearly a year of failure for a major director of his stature.
After the Oscars, there were many complaints about Levi, with some people believing that it is also a blockbuster and that The Three-Body Problem has a much stronger spiritual connotation than The Lord of the Rings 3. Despite this, The Three-Body Problem was not nominated, while The Lord of the Rings won almost all awards. However, it is widely understood that such opinions are more reflective of passionate fans rather than the mainstream evaluation.
In the eyes of avid movie fans, perhaps a science fiction story close to reality has more connotation and depth than The Lord of the Rings, but in the eyes of the mainstream, Levi's film seems inferior to others.
In the past, Levi was an Oscar darling. But times have changed, and he seems less favored now than before. It took two years to work on a movie, and it was finally over. But it still didn't get much praise. The gap is huge compared to the year when two films were nominated for both films.
"Perhaps Levi's peak has passed, and it is no longer his time."
After the Oscars, the media didn't forget to mention a few words of hype. When they mentioned Levi, they also discussed whether Levi was no longer what he was before.
Every director or actor has his own creative peak. During this peak period, they are often very inspired. Good works come one after another and can continue to create miracles.
However, once this peak period passes, it will be very difficult for them to reach the heights of the past.
Although some directors can still rely on their own outstanding standards to maintain a considerable height after this, it is difficult to create miracles again.
According to this statement, it can indeed be said that Levi has now left his peak career. It's really surprising that a director has passed his peak so early.
Generally speaking, top prominent directors become famous around the age of 30. Whether it is Spielberg or Woody Allen, they began to rise to prominence at this time. Even a director like Martin Scorsese, who is not liked by many, also became famous at 35.
A director usually reaches the peak of his career around the age of 40. This age is the golden period for a director - this development path can be said to be the development path of top directors, and Levi became famous earlier than others.
Originally, people thought he might be even more amazing, but who would have thought he would start declining so early?
Of course, people admit that Levi is much better than many, even if he is declining. After all, his starting point is high, and no matter how he declines, he will still be higher than some other directors.
However, it is always a bad thing to start declining so early, and this is something people don't want to see.
Such a topic is a perfect gimmick, and it was widely discussed for a while after the Oscars. Even if he didn't win any awards, Levi became the focus of people's attention at this time.
This situation did not change until Jeff Bridges and Cuba Gooding Jr. were interviewed.
Of course, the reason for this change is not because of the high status of these two people, nor because of the great truth of their words, but because they have recently been preparing to cooperate with Levi to shoot a new movie.
When it comes to knowing the director better than the actors, these two have recently collaborated with Levi, so their words naturally carry a certain weight.
The two of them were full of praise for Levi.
In fact, long before the Oscars were awarded, both of them had been invited by Enigma Company to star in Levi's new movie. Unlike the media's attitude of speculating whether Levi was past his prime, they immediately agreed and participated in Levi's film after they received the invitation.
"It is extremely rare to be able to work with a director of Director Levi's level. After I received the call, I immediately thought, no matter what role it is, I will take it. Because I believe he will definitely be able to create a miracle. If you have the opportunity to star in a good movie, why not seize it?"
Cuba Gooding Jr.'s attitude towards this movie was very straightforward.
What he said was basically the truth: after receiving the news from Enigma Company, he just glanced at the script and immediately decided to star.
There are not many second-tier black actors in Hollywood. In a sense, this is because there are not many black roles in Hollywood movies. It is quite difficult for a black actor to find a suitable role for him. Therefore, when Levi proposed the invitation to Cuba Gooding Jr., he immediately agreed.
No black actor can refuse to play a positive role in such a tender movie that reflects genuine appreciation.
In this regard, Bridges has almost the same attitude.
"I participated in this movie because this role is very challenging. I like this role very much, and it is very difficult to perform. Moreover, this is a real incident telling a true story. Such a story, it is very touching. I am very grateful that Director Levi could film such a story and find me."
In Bridges's interview, he paid more attention to the difficulty of the performance.
This is also what he is saying: he has been acting in movies since the 1950s. For so many years, he has always hoped that he could be fully recognized.
He is not young anymore and probably won't be able to act in blockbusters anymore.
He can only hope for critical praise and has always had strong confidence in his acting skills. But finding a suitable role has always been a worry for him.
And this time, his role can be said to be one that is highly competitive for awards. The subject of disabled people has always been popular among critics.
In order to win awards, many people played fools and cripples, and now he got the role of a person with paralysis. He is very satisfied.
Moreover, this incident is an adaptation of a real incident - for the critics, adaptation of actual events is also a very popular point.
If the two are combined, he will naturally gain favor if he can act well.
Levi gave him this opportunity; how could he not be excited?
So, they both got the role they wanted, and it can be said that these two people are extremely excited.
Moreover, in comparison, the media only speculates based on awards. They are people who have close contact with Levi. For Levi, they know better.
"I hope you can see the contrast between these two people in this movie from all aspects. Not just black and white, but also rich and poor, old and young, normal and disabled, and educated people and uneducated people.
In this movie, what you need to show includes racial discrimination, care for the disabled, social class conflicts, and the contrast between classical culture and popular culture. Note that you need to show not only the differences in these aspects but also the commonalities between them.
There are not only differences between cultures but also commonalities. These things are the foundation of the birth of friendship and feelings. You must find these before you can shoot a good movie."
Regarding the filming of the movie, Levi gave them instructions from the first day, and this instruction immediately made the two of them realize that there is indeed a level to Levi.
What a movie wants to shoot often determines how good or bad the story is. What a story is like is the appearance of the movie, and what it is like inside is the connotation of the movie. It is often an important part of whether a movie can have enough depth of thought.
Not everyone will pay attention to these things - except black people, others don't care whether it vilifies black people, and except for disabled people, others don't care whether it describes the inner feelings of disabled people. The contrast between poor and rich, old and young, can produce comic effects, which is what people can think of, but whether these can reflect something deeper is another matter.
With the same story, someone can make a movie that can uplift people, but after someone else filmed it, people may feel that they are flattering others.
The biggest difference lies in the ideological details hidden behind them. Everyone can describe the big picture, but without a consistent inner thought, there will definitely be problems with the details.
Levi can think of comparisons in all aspects, which is a breakthrough compared to emphasizing only one aspect. The focus of photography is on commonalities rather than contrasting differences. This is already a profound connotation.
This also reminded them of a characteristic of Levi's films: there are many details, and ideological expression is often expressed through details. These details can often make thoughts flicker and penetrate through the movie.
These things are all manifestations of the director's level. With a director like this, why do they need to worry about their film?
For a director, no matter how others evaluate him, they are just irrelevant opinions after all. As long as a director can get the support of actors, he can always make new movies.
The media's suspicion did not bring any harm to Levi. On the contrary, it made many people pay attention to what would happen to Levi's new movie.
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Marcelo Maia
Britanna
Mandy G
Scott DePaepe
Oluwatimileyin Olayemi
Herylle Ian Gloria
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