Chapter 36: Encounter
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Are you saying that… I needed to look ugly to present my acting skills?” Kate was stunned as she did not understand what Adrian meant. They were having afternoon tea at a coffee shop near the Brandenburg Gate at that moment.
“Because you’re very pretty, Kate. Sometimes, people will notice your appearance more than your acting, and they’ll say that you’re a vase,” Adrian explained.
“What about you? Do you think so too?” Kate bit her lips and was rather unhappy.
“Of course not.” Adrian smiled. “But most people think so, and it’s a common understanding between them. It’s very unfair but you must accept it.”
“Is that why you gave me this role?” Kate sighed.
“Yes.” Adrian looked at her closely. “Of course, if you didn’t like it, I would’ve looked for another role for you. The key is knowing what you want, Kate. Are you trying to get approval through sharpening your acting skills? Or you’re trying to enjoy the happiness that acting gives you? Even if you undertake systematic studies in the California Institute of the Arts in the future, you must remember your path. Will you continue being an actress or work behind the scenes?”
Kate tilted her head to think for a long time, then shrugged in the end. “Alright, I understand. No matter what, we’ll talk about it when I apply to the California Institute of the Arts after I graduate.”
Adrian chuckled, then waved his hand when Kate shot a look at him. “We’ll talk about it next time then. It’s rare that the weather’s nice today, how about we stroll the streets of Berlin?”
As mentioned when they were previously in Venice, all film festivals were festivals in a certain way, including the Berlin Film Festival. Since it was a festival, they could have fun visiting different places. Adrian and Kate spent five days exploring the whole of Berlin, where they visited places such as Alexanderplatz, and Unter den Linden. They even went to East Berlin on purpose to take a look at the Berlin Wall that was not fully demolished yet. Apart from the fact that it was quite cold in Germany due to it being February, and that they saw the news about the Persian Gulf on TV from time to time, everything was great.
Adrian asked Laverne to manage everything related to the film. Since the film participated in the festival under the film company, Adrian was much more relaxed than he was in Venice. This was the advantage of being a boss.
Being one of the eleven A-list film festivals set by the International Federation of Film Producers Association, and that it was the first one held after Germany’s reunion, the Berlin Film Festival attracted many filmmakers from all over the world even though it had a rich political atmosphere. Even though Adrian did not know most of them, he saw a few familiar faces.
“It’s really… How should I put it… It’s scary but outstanding at the same time, I didn’t expect her acting to be so… Oh God, that’s Clarice!” Kate who was walking out of the theatre with Adrian shrieked the moment she saw a woman who was being surrounded by reporters.
“You should call her Madam Jodie Foster.” Adrian shook his head. “Don’t overreact, okay?”
Right after he said that, Kate grabbed his arm and pointed at another person who was being surrounded. “Oh my God, Professor Hannibal!”
At least, she heard Adrian earlier, so she spoke softer this time.
“Do you want to ask for an autograph?” Adrian joked.
“Uhm… No.” Kate finally came back to her senses, so she chuckled embarrassingly. “I’m sorry, Eddy. I just watched their film, which was wonderful, so I can’t help but…”
“I know, it’s okay, it really is an ingenious film. I dare say that it’s one of the best works in America this year, and it might win an Oscar award too,” Adrian mentioned, then laughed when he recalled something. “But Director Demme might be denounced by some feminists.”
“Why?” Kate asked curiously, but another voice was suddenly heard too. “Why?”
Adrian looked toward the source of the voice and noticed a middle-aged man with small eyes and beard standing diagonally behind him. He was looking at him curiously.
“May I ask who you are?” Adrian felt that he was familiar, but he could not recall at that moment.
“Jonathan Demme,” the man replied with a smile.
Adrian could not help but raise his brows. “Oh, it’s Director Demme. I’m really sorry, I hope you don’t think that I have anything against you.”
“It’s alright.” Demme waved his hand. “You can call me Jonathan, I just wanted to know why you concluded that—oh right, you are?”
“Adrian Cowell,” Adrian introduced, “and this is my girlfriend, Kate Beckinsale.”
“Adrian Cowell? The wizard director?!” Jonathan was surprised and was in disbelief.
“I recall that nickname… Oh right, which newspaper wrote that?” Adrian rubbed his chin as he looked at Kate.
Kate who was clinging to his arm because he introduced her as his girlfriend pondered. “‘Los Angeles Times’!”
Although only reporters from small newspapers interviewed Adrian on the day ‘Memento’ was screened at the film festival, and those papers only focused on guessing the plot, as well as interpreting Dennis’ replies in an exaggerating manner, it did not mean that there were no other movie critics who watched it.
“This isn’t an ordinary film. There are many films that adopt reverse orders, but there aren’t many unconventional ones like ‘Memento’ that makes its audience think. If you think that this film is similar to the one Adrian produced a few months back, which is full of vulgarities and dark humor, you couldn’t be more wrong. Though ‘Memento’ has its share of vulgarities too, believe me, it’s far from ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”
“Alright, that was a joke. Let’s talk about Adrian’s new film. In short, the male lead has a rare type of amnesia, so he can only remember things that happen in a few minutes. As such, when he runs, he eventually forgets if he’s chasing someone or being chased. For him, life is fragile, but amidst the fragility, he constantly thinks of avenging his wife’s death.”
“It sounds like an old-fashioned story, but Adrian portrayed it with his own method. There are a total of two sequences, a colored one in reverse order, and a black-and-white one in chronological order, but they’re shown parallelly. In the beginning, you might feel confused, but you’ll slowly be drawn to it as the plot develops. Please forgive me for not being able to reveal more, I can only say that the story will be extremely mediocre if it were to be displayed in chronological order. The film is different because of the unique method adopted by Adrian when he edited it, especially the ending that will shock most of you.”
“This is an exceptionally complicated film that requires constant thinking, and if you’d like to experience a storm in your mind, you should watch it when it screens in cinemas. Although I haven’t met Adrian Cowell in person, the fact that he produced two similar films with different points of focus makes him a wizard.”
This was a review from Ronnie Gross, a famous American film critic. It was published in the second edition of the entertainment section in the ‘Los Angeles Times’ two days after ‘Memento’ was screened—while ‘Los Angeles Times’ and ‘Los Angeles Evening Paper’ seemed slightly different, the former was one of America’s biggest newspapers, unlike the latter.
Back when ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ was screened last year, Gross praised that it was a good story, and he became somewhat interested in Adrian. Therefore, after attending the Berlin Film Festival, he purposely showed up at the premiere for ‘Memento’.
Following Gross’ review of the film, reports and movie critics from other countries and areas gave their opinion too. Although there were a few bad reviews, there were plenty of compliments. The unique editing method of the film was an eye-opener for many, and its story was deep, thus it was liked by the critics.
Since Adrian was no longer the new director he used to be months ago, the movie reviews for ‘Memento’ were not published at the corners of newspapers. Therefore, he received more attention, including Jonathan Demme’s.
“I happened to have watched ‘Memento’ at the Rose Theatre yesterday. It’s extremely ingenious, you deserve being called a wizard,” Jonathan Demme commented seriously.
“You’re overpraising me, Director Demme, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ is much more outstanding than mine. Not only does it grasp the novel’s context completely, but it also contains many details that can’t be expressed in the novel. Besides, Mr. Hopkins and Madam Foster have incredible acting skills. I believe that your film will be one of the fiercest competitors for Oscar’s Best Pictures this year!” Adrian said respectfully.
Jonathan laughed happily and immediately had a good impression of Adrian.
“Call me Jonathan, Adrian.” He shook his hand with Adrian’s. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Me too, Jonathan.” Adrian nodded with a smile.
“Regarding what you said earlier, that my film might be denounced by feminists, may I ask why?” Jonathan looked at the noisy crowd around them, then suggested, “How about we go somewhere else, Adrian? Our crew is having a small party at the Concorde Hotel, would you and Ms. Kate care to join?”
Adrian looked at Kate, then glanced at Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster who had gotten rid of the reporters and movie fans.
“We’d be happy to,” he replied to Jonathan.
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