Chapter 37: Killed A Few Birds With One Stone
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Concorde Hotel was near the International Congress Center Berlin, which was not too far from the film festival’s venue. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ crew made a good choice to settle down there.
Crew members were conversing happily in a small hall on the 8th floor of the hotel. Other than the casts, the director, the producer, and people from the film company, there were not many people who were invited.
“The key is the description of Buffalo Bill,” Adrian spoke frankly with the director and the two main casts with Kate beside him, “Especially the description of his perverted character being obsessed with the skin of overweight women, it’ll definitely be denounced by some feminists. After all, films are a mix of elements such as image, music, and performance. They’re different from novels.”
“That’s all? Isn’t that a little exaggerated?” Jonathan was not too concerned.
“Actually, in my opinion, most females won’t have that thought, but you must know that there are always extremists for any viewpoint.” Adrian shrugged. “Of course, I don’t think that they’ll be able to cause much of a storm. This is an excellent film, so whether it’s your directing, or Jodie and Anthony’s performances, they’ll be recorded in the textbook.”
“I must admit that you’re very eloquent, Adrian,” Jodie Foster commented with a smile. She was not an exceptionally beautiful woman, but she had attractive qualities, especially her greyish-blue eyes that looked like they could speak.
“Thank you, they’re my sincere words. I believe that you and Anthony will win Best Actress and Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as at the Oscars at the beginning of next year!” Adrian expressed seriously.
His respectful reply put smiles on their faces. Right then, Anthony Hopkins asked half-jokingly, “If that’s the case, Adrian, between me and Jodie, who do you think acted better in the film?”
“This isn’t a good question, Anthony.” Adrian chuckled. “Honestly, both your acting were outstanding, it’s hard for me to tell who’s better. Nonetheless, from my perspective, I’m leaning slightly toward Anthony.”
“Why?” Jodie looked at him curiously.
“It’s simple, Anthony’s scenes amount to…” Adrian looked up to recall. “Less than 30 minutes, yet he left an equally deep impression as you did.”
“Is that so?” Jodie grinned. “But I had more screen time than Anthony, and I maintained the same level of acting as him throughout. What can you say about that?”
Adrian was startled, he then shook his head with a bitter smile. “Alright, I wasn’t being considerate enough.”
‘She really is a talented woman who graduated from Yale University, I’m left speechless.’
“It’s okay, you’re just viewing from different perspectives, there’s no right or wrong.” Hopkins defused the awkward situation.
“No matter what, you’re both extremely remarkable actors, we might have a chance to work together in the future.” Adrian raised his glass.
“I look forward to that, ‘Memento’ is incredible.” Anthony raised his class too.
“There’ll be a chance.” Jodie did the same.
Despite that, Adrian knew that those were just simple polite responses. At the end of the day, he had only been in the industry for less than a year, which was a very short time. It did not matter if he produced two wonderful productions. Nevertheless, it was exactly because of his work and his good sensibility that Anthony and Jodie gave such polite replies. Besides, who knew what would happen in the future? It was necessary for one to be smooth and evasive to a certain extent in the entertainment industry.
Adrian was not too bothered, because he was only trying to build some connections. Although he also considered Hopkins for his next plan, it would be some time after. The person he wanted to rope in at that moment was Jonathan Demme.
“Oh right, Jonathan, do you have any plans after your current film?” Adrian suddenly asked after putting his empty glass on the server’s tray.
“Not at the moment.” Jonathan shook his head. “Publicizing work for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ has just begun, and I plan to… Why? Do you have something to propose?”
“Yes, I have an idea, but I haven’t found a suitable person to direct it for now—I’m still too inexperienced—until I watched your film today.” Adrian was being very straightforward. “Though it’s a completely different theme from ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, I believe that you’ll portray the story perfectly with your confidence in details.”
“Is that so?” Jonathan raised his brows. “May I ask what the story is about?”
“Alright, let me think…” Adrian constructed his sentences in his head, then answered, “It’s a story about homosexuality and AIDS. Andrew and Joe are two young lawyers in Philadelphia who work hard and have bright futures. However, Andrew’s a homosexual and was accidentally infected with AIDS…”
Adrian was describing ‘Philadelphia’, the film where Tom Hanks won his first award, and the film’s director was in fact, Jonathan Demme. The moment Adrian watched ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ at the theatre, he thought about this film, and since he encountered Jonathan after, he decided to rope him in to produce the film. It would do Jonathan a favor by giving him what belongs to him and was also a worthy deal for Adrian.
He had watched ‘Philadelphia’ a number of times, so he remembered its details very clearly. He purposely described the interesting parts, which were mostly Jonathan’s idea and made them sound very lively, so he successfully drew Jonathan’s attention.
“That’s unquestionably a valuable concept, can I take a look at the script?” Afterward, Jonathan, who was excited, asked.
“I’m sorry, Jonathan. It’s still just an idea for now, so I don’t have a complete script,” Adrian responded.
“No way?” Jonathan was in disbelief. “I heard from Fox’s Barney Jacklin that you completed six different-styled yet quality-assured scripts in a few months.”
“Did he say that? Looks like I gave him a deep impression back then.” Adrian shrugged.
“Sorry for interrupting, but may I ask what you’re talking about?” Jodie suddenly asked.
“This, you’ll have to ask Adrian himself.” Jonathan passed the ball to Adrian.
“It’s nothing special, I once sold a total of six scripts to four big companies,” Adrian replied.
“A total of six scripts at once?” Anthony heard him too. He was extremely surprised. “You finished all of them in a few months?”
“Something like that.” Adrian did not deny it. Seeing as they were going to ask more questions, he quickly turned to Jonathan to change the topic. “What do you think, Jonathan?”
“It won’t be a problem, but…” Jonathan smiled bitterly. “I’m still busy with the publicizing matters of ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, so I’m afraid that I’ll be busy for a long time.
“It’s alright, I need time to get the script ready anyway, so I’ll reserve it for you—needless to say, if you’d like to, I’ll prepare the pre-production work, and we can get the film rolling when you’re free,” Adrian said with a smile.
“Really?” Jonathan was shocked. “It’s a deal then.”
Even though it was only a small party, Adrian gained a lot. Firstly, he built connections with Jonathan Demme, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, and the others; secondly, he found another reputable and highly profitable film for his film company; lastly, he could use the opportunity to rope in two future award winners—yes, he would use the “original casts” for the film.
‘Sadly, I’m not powerful enough yet, or they’ll be the one trying to rope me in.’ Adrian who was removing his clothes in front of his hotel room mirror thought to himself. He then shook his head. ‘It has only been a year, I shouldn’t worry so much since I still have time, as long as…’
Adrian immediately stopped thinking. Apart from finding out the situation at the gulf from the TV or the newspapers, he had not been contacting Claude. While he trusted him, he was still nervous, because it was still a gamble. Adrian did not want to be weighed down by this, so he simply chose not to ask about it before the result was out.
“Hey, my love, what are you thinking?” When Adrian only had his undershirt left, he turned to find that Kate was in a daze in front of the dresser.
“No, nothing.” Kate turned to force a smile at him.
Adrian quickly knew what she was thinking because Kate, who was still naive, could be easily seen through.
“Alright, what’s there to reproach yourself for? Once you join a few more parties like that, you’ll naturally know what to say at the right time.” Adrian approached her and hugged her from behind.
“But… I was just like a vase,” Kate mumbled.
“You were an extremely beautiful vase,” Adrian said with a smile. “Weren’t you very happy when you spoke to Jodie?”
He suddenly recalled, then he asked before Kate could reply, “Oh right, what did you talk about?”
“Some topic about women, is there any problem?” Kate who was puzzled turned around. “You sound odd.”
“No, I was just casually asking.”
‘Should I tell you that she’s homosexual and that you should stay away from her?’ Adrian wondered. Speaking of which, for most men, the image of two beautiful women kissing was actually very alluring. It was the same mindset for some women who also thought that it was a wonderful thing for two handsome men to kiss. However, neither party realized that the precondition of that mentality was that they were involved in the kiss.
Adrian shrugged, then carried Kate. “Alright, it’s late, let’s do something else. How about we do some new tricks?”
“You… I hate it when you’re like that!” Kate’s face reddened. “You make me feel like I’m… I’m… I’m like a… A…”
“Like what?” Adrian teased.
Kate’s face became redder. Although she seemed slightly mad, her tone sold her heart.
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