Chapter 133 -133 Dispute
It’s no surprise that the reaction from the British media and critics was so vehement, although Adrian had a British grandmother, and although he himself had an assumed British nationality, and although his first movie was filmed in London and was full of British dark humor, he was always an American!
While the UK and US are politically allies, culturally, they mostly hold each other in disdain—the Americans think the British are hypocritical and rigid, while the British think the Americans are rude and uncultured. It would be unimaginable not to have a head-on clash after a long time. Perhaps this strange situation seems laughable to outsiders, but to the middle classes of the UK and US, it’s quite normal.
As an American, Adrian’s films were marked by a strong cult style, and he even won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for this. It was simply ludicrous to think that such a person wanted to adapt Edward Morgan Forster’s work—particularly his most famous novel, “Howards End,” known for its fresh and elegant style—onto screen. No wonder the British media were so infuriated, their criticism was almost unanimous.
As for the American media, they appeared very awkward. Usually, they would speak in favor of one of their own, but Adrian’s idea this time was just too fanciful. If his movie bore even the slightest resemblance in style to his previous films, they would have defended him, but the fact was…
“Frankly speaking, we’re very excited to see a different and unique version of ‘Howards End’ filled with gore, violence, and black humor a few months from now—it will definitely be cool.” While the major newspapers found it hard to speak, that didn’t mean the tabloids kept silent, though such comments only added fuel to the fire.
With this lead, further investigations became much easier. To adapt this novel for the big screen they definitely had to rent an estate, and unless under special circumstances, the rented estate couldn’t be too far from London, so after some effort, the reporters eventually made their way there.
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“I hope everyone continues as before, we are about to wrap up the shots at the estate, don’t let these people disturb you. Of course, I’ll also make sure they are kept well away,” Adrian said as he directed someone to drive off the reporters and convened a small meeting with Hopkins and others in the living room.
Although he was aware of the situation outside and had made some preparations, he still didn’t expect the journalists to arrive so quickly—truly deserving of the paparazzi’s place of origin.
“I think this is totally fine,” Hopkins said, taking the lead.
After the reporters arrived, Adrian privately briefed him and Thompson on the situation outside, especially about the British media’s criticism against him and them—since Hopkins and Thompson were British, the British media were much more tolerant towards them, hardly saying anything except suggesting they were afraid to work with that “foolish,” “arrogant” director. The main vitriol was directed at Adrian, truly a differential treatment.
Hopkins knew this was Adrian’s way of seeking support. In the crew, he and Thompson were the most important actors. Having collaborated with him for a while, he had come to recognize this genius director and naturally would support him.
“Yes, this won’t be difficult at all,” Thompson also remarked. Although she had anticipated such a situation when she had first decided to collaborate, she still agreed because the contract with Little Emma gave her an intriguing feeling, and her intuition let her believe that she could completely work with someone like this. As for the risks, as a famous actress on the verge of becoming a producer, how could she not know that every movie comes with its risks?
As the two main actors and the most important supporting actor expressed their support—Kate naturally wouldn’t stand against her boyfriend—the other actors and crew members also echoed them. After consolidating the internal support, Adrian waved his hand, and the entire crew immediately resumed operations.
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The reporters, kept at a distance, were very unwilling but temporarily helpless. The exterior of the estate had a very open view, and the cameras could capture a lot during long shots. If the reporters accidentally walked into a shot once or twice, that was understandable, but too many times would cause trouble. Therefore, regardless of the type of reporter, none would deliberately disrupt filming—it was an unwritten rule.
Even so, they still took photos from a distance and wrote down their observations to send back—of course, exaggerating was inevitable, and thus the British media’s criticisms grew even more acute.
“Clearly, Adrian is very confident in himself,” he stubbornly refused to reveal any information related to the movie and drove the reporters far away. Although it seems—yes, exactly, it seems—he put a lot of effort into the costumes and props, the profound implications of Foster’s novel cannot be conveyed by a few fancy outfits and era-appropriate props. Oh, it is indeed a misfortune for the whole of England that there is not a single director who wants to adapt this novel into a film.” A report in the famous British tabloid, The Sun, wrote thus.
Although it is somewhat ridiculous for an entertainment tabloid to describe things at this level of importance, one must not forget that sensationalism is indeed the purpose of The Sun, even if its most blatant era is still some years away.
However, Adrian, busy filming at Howard’s estate, didn’t care about this, as he was now putting all his energy into his work, there was no need to refute, it was of no use to talk more about it, it would be better to speak with facts after a few months. Besides, the controversy that had arisen was already part of Laverne’s plan, as high box office returns for a film are at least 40% due to marketing efforts. If you cannot promote it, how can the audience be expected to willingly pay money to go to the movies? Why would film critics pay attention to the movie? This is why many ambitious new directors like to choose controversial subjects for their films, the eyeball economy has been present since the advent of the media.
“The budget of ‘Howards End’ is around 10 million US dollars,” which is because Hopkins, considering Foster’s novel, took only 4 million US dollars as a fee, otherwise, with his freshly minted Oscar-winning actor status, it would definitely not be just this amount. As a literary drama film adapted from a British novel, this high budget is already quite risky, and if a lot of money were spent on marketing, it might not be possible to recoup the investment, after all, such films are indeed niche.
Since that is the case, then a way must be found to create some free but highly effective publicity, like causing a huge controversy as mentioned earlier, people’s curiosity never dwindles, the bigger the controversy, the more they want to see it. However, Adrian did not need to shoot any taboo subjects, just being a director known for gang and violence themes directing a fresh and elegant period drama in the Victorian style was enough to attract attention.
All these matters were managed by Laverne, Adrian only needed to ensure the quality of the film, so how much the British media attacked didn’t concern him. What he was grateful for, however, was that Emma had been picked up by her aunt three days before the reporters arrived—although she still spent each day in play, staying with the film crew for a long time was not appropriate—for God knows what those media would have written, which wouldn’t have been good for the little one.
Emma was very unhappy when she left, the reason for which, of course, need not be mentioned. After that night, whenever it came time to sleep, the little one would insist on snuggling into his arms, and during the day she would completely cling to him, as if to declare that this was her territory and no one should trespass.
Adrian could only shrug helplessly at this; fortunately, even though the little one was reluctant and looked at him with longing eyes when she left, she eventually did leave the estate, so that night he “captured” Kate and took her back to his bedroom for a thorough intimacy.
Regrettably, it was just a few days later, and those reporters, nosier than dogs, were back. Although he could keep them out of the estate, and though they dared not disturb the shooting of the film, there was still the matter of them taking pictures with long lenses during breaks, which could be a bit troubling if intimate shots were captured. So, even though he wanted to continue, after much hesitation, he decided to hold back.
“Anyway, we are mainly focused on work right now, so let’s just wait until we get back to London,” Kate consoled him privately, which caught Adrian slightly by surprise, knowing how, on that night of intimacy, she had fought and struggled for a long time before being subdued.
Perceiving his thoughts, Kate immediately made a face at him and ran away. Adrian shrugged and put the matter out of his mind, Kate was right, better to first finish the work.
The additional reporters did not affect the operations of the crew, since they could only observe from a distance, and they did not take pictures during filming. As for the various attacks spread by them to the crew, even though there was some minor turmoil among the British employees, mainly dissatisfaction and indignation, though most of them were working with Adrian for the first time and had only been on set for three weeks, they still thought this kind of speaking was completely irresponsible.
“Don’t be angry, all we have to do is do our jobs well,” Adrian reassured them more than once, seeing this, as long as there were no internal doubts, any problem could be solved.
After the reporters swarmed in, it took nearly five more days, right into the start of July, before the shooting at the estate was finally finished. But Adrian only breathed a slight sigh of relief because the plan was disrupted, shooting the remaining scenes was likely to encounter many difficulties.
These scenes all needed to be shot in the city, and although London had plenty of exteriors to choose from, running around was not as convenient as Hollywood’s studios and movie towns, inevitably offering opportunities for those reporters.
Typically, if reporters waited outside the set for a few days and got little news, most would leave after leaving a few to watch 지the situation, and this was a treatment only for big productions. But it had been 5 to 6 days, and those reporters waiting at a distance had not decreased at all, clearly determined to dig something up. (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please log on to www.qidian.com. There are more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)