Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 74: Ambitious

How to define a decent movie and an excellent movie?

Every movie has its specific audience and unique attributes. For example, popcorn movies aim to entertain, comedies aim to make audiences laugh, and thrillers aim to make audiences scared. As long as a movie achieves its intended purpose, it can be considered "decent."

Take "Transformers" as an example. The series has often been criticized by reviewers, yet its box office performance remains consistently high because it successfully ignites adrenaline in audiences, fully realizing the visual effects and action-packed popcorn movie attributes. From this perspective, "Transformers" qualifies as a decent work.

So, what does it take for a decent movie to be considered "excellent"?

Movies are like works with a thesis statement. Each one has a core idea, even if it's a vulgar comedy about bodily functions. Whether it's about family, friendship, or growth, the key is whether the theme is well-executed. Did the movie effectively convey its theme? Did it provide audiences with something more? Did it resonate with the audience's lives or society, sparking profound reflection? How deep and extensive is this reflection? Beyond mere visual and auditory experiences, what do audiences take away? How long does the movie linger in the audience's minds?

These are the critical factors in defining an excellent movie.

As for what kind of movie can be considered a classic, that's another level altogether. Moving from decent to excellent, and from excellent to classic, is a daunting task.

According to Rodrigo's original concept, the core idea behind "Buried" only goes as far as what Renly mentioned as "the first." As Renly said, if the movie is shot solely based on this, it would just be an ordinary thriller-mystery film—escaping the mediocrity of typical works.

However, that's where it ends.

Renly mentioned that "the second" would precisely elevate "Buried" from merely decent to excellent.

The fatal flaw in most thriller-mystery films lies in their lack of a compelling story or fully developed characters. Without meaningful connections between characters and their backgrounds, these films often fall short, staying on a superficial level of suspense. "The Shining" became a cinematic classic because the background information about the hotel and the main character's family enriched the story, allowing the suspense to root and extend into the audience's minds.

Paul's personal attributes achieve this. The world outside the coffin supplements the plot, creating a bridge between the audience's experience inside and outside the movie screen, further engaging their emotions and making the film more complete. Additionally, Paul's societal attributes elevate and refine the film's core, prompting deeper reflections beyond mere scares or fears.

Rodrigo furrowed his brows, contemplating deeper, feeling increasingly astonished and excited by Renly's insights.

It's hard to imagine that Renly hasn't even read the script yet, only skimmed through the basic information provided by the union, and yet can outline such a grand blueprint. It's truly incredible! Of course, Rodrigo can sense that Renly's perspective is character-centered. While as a director, he may have a different angle on the ideas, Renly's thoughts are still remarkable!

Rodrigo looked up again, reassessing Renly. Beneath the youthful appearance lies a pair of tranquil eyes, deep as the abyss. Amidst the vague shadows, the deep brown pupils radiate a profound, almost unfathomable brilliance, akin to gazing into the starry sky, evoking an ineffable awe.

In that moment, Rodrigo felt the same astonishment he felt during their first encounter—a blend of world-weariness and composure, restrained yet robust. Every detail in Renly's demeanor bears the imprint of Paul Conroy. This is certainly not the demeanor of a twenty-year-old, absolutely not!

"Cough." Rodrigo realized his lapse and coughed lightly, concealing his embarrassment. "...You know... I mean, you should know, if your interpretation is followed, it's a daunting task for the actors. No, more accurately, it's almost an impossible task."

"I know," Renly said with a smile. His words were concise yet brimming with undeniable confidence, even bordering on arrogance. The sharp glint in his eyes, a burst of unwavering certainty, made it impossible to ignore.

Choosing "Buried," Renly didn't intend to play it safe. Unlike "The Pacific," "Buried" can be considered a challenge beyond Renly's current abilities, precisely why it stirs Renly's passion.

Acting is an ancient art, stretching back hundreds if not thousands of years, evolving into what it is today after prolonged refinement. Generally, people understand acting as portraying a character through gestures, expressions, and language. This traditional understanding of acting forms the basis of what is known as the representational acting style.

Representational acting isn't hard to grasp. It involves mastering body language, facial expressions, and dialogue delivery. Actors must accurately grasp emotions, understand characters, and comprehend the plot, then express them precisely.

This approach requires rigorous training, leaving no room for shortcuts. It truly embodies the saying, "A minute on stage requires ten years of practice offstage." Every actor must undergo systematic learning, extensive training, and professional guidance, refining every aspect from posture to appearance.

Each actor's understanding of acting varies, as does their proficiency in basic skills, resulting in different performances and lingering impressions. Particularly in traditional performing arts like Peking Opera or stage plays, the same character played by different actors or the same actor in different performances can evoke distinct flavors.

Renly epitomizes the traditional representational school, having received education from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the UK. He has diligently pursued fundamental skills since childhood. In aristocratic education, stage plays, operas, and ballets are considered high art forms, with learning basic skills being the same and immensely demanding. Renly's basic skills are solid, showing no signs of slacking. He represents the orthodox representational school.

Besides the representational school, another acting style has risen to prominence over the past half-century, gradually becoming mainstream: method acting.

Method acting entails completely immersing oneself in the character's circumstances, incorporating one's own understanding into the role, and then expressing the character's emotions accordingly.

One of the most famous examples in film history is Robert De Niro's performance in "Taxi Driver." To experience the life of a taxi driver and understand the era in which the script was set, De Niro worked as a taxi driver in New York for three months, genuinely feeling the protagonist's confusion and madness. This epitomizes method acting, where actors immerse themselves in the role, allowing the character to drive the performance, integrating fully into the story—authentic and compelling, assertive and eccentric.

The pinnacle of this approach is the adage "madness begets brilliance," completely ignoring the boundary between reality and fiction, reaching a state of self-forgetfulness. Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight" achieved this, to the extent that he couldn't break free from it, ultimately choosing to end his brief yet brilliant life out of self-understanding.

For proponents of method acting, they firmly believe that each character's life is unique, and no one can truly understand their emotions unless they've experienced them firsthand. Using "Buried" as an example, method actors believe they need to experience the feeling of being confined in a narrow space to truly understand what it's like to be buried alive. Merely relying on representational acting may accurately convey emotions, but lacks authenticity.

Furthermore, representational acting follows a strict academic path, with high barriers to entry requiring years of accumulation and professional training. Method acting, on the other hand, has no such barriers, allowing anyone to participate and interpret the character's emotions based on personal understanding. Even those without formal education can become excellent actors.

In the contemporary film industry, Europe favors representational acting, emphasizing the necessity of training. America champions method acting, and Hollywood, representing the film industry, has realized countless grassroots dreams, offering opportunities to everyone regardless of their background.

As a reincarnated individual, Renly received education in the representational school but retains the grassroots origins of Chu Jiashu. His unique experience of living two lives gives him a distinctive insight into character portrayal. Therefore, he has always wanted to try method acting and even further integrate the two methods, exploring new territories in acting.

(AN - Chu Jiashu is his name in previous life.)

Clearly, "Buried" provides this opportunity.

What Renly mentioned earlier, the first part is representational acting, and the second part is method acting. In other words, it's a bold attempt to merge the two acting methods!