Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1431: The Joy Luck Club
"Mr. Li, your blanket, eye mask, and your tea..."

"Thanks……"

The stewardess, who knew Ronald's preferences very well, brought him the three essential sets of clothing as soon as he got on the plane.

The filming of the children went smoothly in Bayford, South Carolina. After Ronald had children, his patience with these child actors increased by orders of magnitude.

Many staff members who have worked with him for many years, seeing him talking to those kids in a friendly manner about acting, playing games with them and coaxing them into filming, found it hard to believe that this director, who was known for being autocratic on the set, could do such a thing.

It seemed slow, but he played games with the child actors repeatedly and rehearsed slowly. If there was a mistake in one take, Ronald would mainly encourage them. If it really didn't work, he would not pursue a single take but shoot several takes instead, saving the good parts for the editing room to connect together.

This method actually made the filming speed very fast. When the scenes of little Forrest Gump and little Jenny were finished, it happened to be Friday. The crew had no scenes to shoot all day on Saturday because the two leading actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright had not recovered from their colds.

In this case, Ronald did not let the two actors work while they were sick. He found a local nurse to take care of the two actors and bought plane tickets for their partners to come to the set to take care of the sick actors...

For those staff members who also caught a cold, Ronald asked the chef to cook a large pot of chicken soup, which anyone with symptoms could enjoy for free. In addition, the resident doctor prescribed medicines. Not only did this large-scale cold not cause any problems for the crew, but it also enhanced everyone's cohesion.

You know, in Hollywood, time is money. People usually don't stop to wait for someone to recover. Actors usually have to work while they are sick, and staff members can be replaced whenever possible. Every day of suspension is a huge waste of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, which no one can afford.

But Ronald was so good at finishing the filming of the week ahead of schedule and taking a day off for everyone to rest. Many staff members had never heard of such a director. To be honest, many directors are not necessarily bad people, but the huge pressure from the producers makes them look bad-tempered.

Ronald has strong professional skills and can withstand pressure. Word began to spread in the crew about the many kind and benevolent things Ronald had done during the filming of the movie. For a time, everyone felt that they were very lucky to join such a crew.

However, Ronald did not rest for two days. He rushed back to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of "The Joy Luck Club", a new film produced by Daydream.

This movie is the first Hollywood movie after "The Last Emperor" where all the main characters are Chinese. The actors who play them are Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese, but they all look like Chinese.

As a matter of fact that Ronald was keen to promote, he also put some effort into the marketing of the film. Many actors who had worked with him and were famous for their female roles were invited to attend the premiere.

……

"Hi, Tomita..."

Ronald and Diane dressed up for the premiere at The Crest Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles.

The first thing he saw was the girl who played Daniel's Japanese girlfriend Kumiko in "The Karate Kid 2". She has now grown up to be a very charming and beautiful actress.

"Oh, Ronald-san..." As soon as Tomita Tanling saw Ronald, she happily came up to hug him and jumped directly on him with joy.

"Ooooh, look at you..."

Ronald had met Tomita several times as an adult, but the most profound impression in his mind was that Tomita Tanling was still a chubby girl. Who would have thought that now, Tomita, wearing a red shirt and a white coat, had a completely new spirit, and she looked like a typical Hollywood actress, and her beauty in temperament was even better than her appearance.

"This is my wife Diane. He may not recognize you..." Ronald smiled and turned to Diane and said, "This is Kumiko from The Karate Kid. Do you recognize her?"

"Oh... that's right, we all wanted to be Daniel's girlfriend at that time, Crane Kick..."

Diane was having bad luck at the time, and she was actually a little envious of the two actresses who were able to gain fame in this series of commercial films without any acting skills. So the little girl in her mind quickly overlapped with Tomita in front of her.

"Ming-na..."

Tomita Tan Ling turned around and called Wen Ming-na, who played the four sisters with her. The latter came to Daydream to play Chun-Li in Street Fighter during the break of filming The Joy Luck Club.

Objectively speaking, these two actresses have the potential to play leading roles in Hollywood because they were chosen by Ronald.

"How are you two doing recently?" Ronald was very happy to see the two Asian actresses he had chosen appear in a theatrical movie as the leading roles. After the greetings, he wanted to know about their recent situation.

"You know, roles like this are hard to come by in Hollywood."

Tomita Tanling never stops talking. After Kumiko in "The Karate Kid 2" became globally famous, she has always wanted to gain a foothold in Hollywood. But the cruel reality is that in the following year, she only received a few casting calls, most of which were typical Asians who were just filling in the numbers, with one or two lines and one or two actions.

Only then did Tomita realize how lucky she was to play the role of Kumiko.

After recognizing the reality, Tomita Tanling had no choice but to return to Japan to develop her career, and she did play a lot of roles. But what's a little funny is that she also became a "foreigner" in Japan.

Most of the movies that approached her were copycats of "The Karate Kid," where a Japanese beauty ended up dating a white-skinned foreigner...

In short, although she can often be recognized on the street, she belongs neither to the West nor to the East. Only movies about the theme of communication between the East and the West can give them a stage to display their talents.

But it's normal to think about it. For an Asian actor who speaks English better than Japanese or Chinese, only this kind of role is most suitable for them. And after being in Hollywood for a long time, if you ask them to play a traditional East Asian woman, the temperament alone will be out of harmony.

"Don't worry too much, there will be more and more movies like this in the future..."

Ronald comforted the two actresses who were eager to play in projects similar to Daydream, and urged them to accept interviews with reporters together with the remaining leading actors. This is a good opportunity for these Asian actresses to have a chance to appear in the media.

"Tomita, Tomita, you are acting in a Hollywood movie again this time. How do you feel different from The Karate Kid?"

Reporters also saw them and took photos. Besides, reporters from print and TV stations also came to interview them.

“I think this Joy Luck Club is not just a story about Asians. It is actually a microcosm of the first generation of immigrants. Whether they are Italian, Jewish, or Latino, when their families first set foot on this land, they will experience what the women in the Joy Luck Club experienced…”

Tomita Tanling had already received media training from Daydream Company, and public relations consultant Michael Gray came up with a special plan for the marketing of The Joy Luck Club.

Sometimes, the marketing of a movie is much more important than the movie itself.

For example, if "The Joy Luck Club" were marketed using the same marketing methods as Chinese stories, it would be difficult to attract mainstream white audiences to the cinema.

"The Last Emperor" faced the same problem at the time, but after all, they had the gimmick of being the last emperor, plus the huge success of the Oscars, so in the end, "The Last Emperor" was positioned as a landscape film of a bizarre oriental history.

But it is difficult for "The Joy Luck Club" to have the same easy marketing direction as "The Last Emperor". It is originally a story about the life experiences of several Chinese women in America. How do you make mainstream audiences interested in such a story?

Finally, Michael Gray's solution was to abandon the propaganda about Chinese Americans and position the film as a story about how a woman from a first-generation immigrant family integrated into American culture, what cultural conflicts there were, and how she used her own culture to resolve the conflicts and integrate into society.

Unlike all the countries in the world, America is a country founded by immigrants. Except for a very small number of indigenous people, most people living in America immigrated from somewhere by boat.

Therefore, the sense of identification with the first generation of immigrants is deeply rooted in the hearts of every American. Whether they heard it from their family elders, learned it from history textbooks, or understood it through movies like "The Godfather", in short, there was an old couple in their ancestors who were lucky enough to come to this free land, and relied on their hard work and some good luck to finally have their descendants. Everyone wants to know the stories of these ancestors.

"Melanie... Elizabeth... Cher..."

Ronald continued to welcome several female stars he invited at the theater entrance. Melanie Griffith, Elizabeth Shue, Cher and others came to support him. They were all the characters that had appeared in Ronald's past movies, with their own unique personalities, not just the male protagonist's subordinates.

This is also part of Michael Gray's marketing plan. In addition to the big theme of first-generation immigrants, women are also the theme of "The Joy Luck Club".

It is more difficult for women to integrate into American society than for men. In addition to the language and work difficulties, women also have some special problems.

Unlike most countries, the emergence of a large number of working women in America after World War II is an irreversible trend. However, many older immigrants came from countries where the environment did not encourage women to work.

After leaving the big family and the atmosphere of living together, where there are some elder women of the same ethnicity around them who can teach them by example, they still have to fight on their own in America, in an unfamiliar environment and culture, to learn how to be a woman, a wife, a mother...

This is also a universal problem in the home cultures of various immigrants and in a melting pot like America.

Even Italians, who have a strong culture of extended families and a similar culture to the Chinese, will gradually disintegrate and become mainly small-family units after the third generation.

Therefore, audiences of almost every ethnicity can find some parts that they can relate to.

In this way, "The Joy Luck Club" is not just an elegy for Chinese women, but has become an epic of cultural shock and integration that all immigrant families will experience.

……

"Woooooooo..."

No one expected that "The Joy Luck Club", which was supposed to be about the cultural integration of immigrants, would make the entire audience attending the premiere cry near the end of the movie.

Especially those who come to watch women's movies are deeply moved by the plot, the ever-increasing dramatic conflicts, the various contradictions encountered by the protagonists, the mutual dislike between the old generation who adhere to tradition and the young generation who are open and inclusive, and the final reconciliation...

Towards the end of the movie, when Jingmei's father (played by Ronald's old friend Chao Li) explained the truth about Suyuan abandoning the twins, the emotions of the whole audience were led to the point of bursting out. After one person cried, everyone couldn't hold back their tears.

"Oh, God, this is simply a tear gas bomb..." Diane couldn't help it and took a handkerchief to wipe her eyes...

"Uh..." Ronald was also very excited and almost couldn't hold back his tears several times. However, as a professional director, he didn't really like the plot of the movie. Rather than the tear-jerking nature of the movie itself, it was the unique atmosphere created by the Chinese director Wayne Wang and his ability to guide the audience's thinking.

Although there are some plots that don't make sense, his editing of the entire movie can make American audiences forget the flaws...

"You don't know, this is a unique genre of Chinese-language films, called sad tearjerker films...We had it in Hollywood before, but it's lost now..."

Ronald quickly said some theoretical words to prevent himself from being led by the director, and almost broke down and cried. This movie is really suitable for those Westerners who don't understand Chinese culture.

The oppressive, feudal despotism of the ancient Chinese and the friendliness, warmth and mutual understanding among the Chinese formed a sharp contrast, making Westerners feel that these people really live a morally beautiful life.

The Summit Theater is a single-hall cinema with a very nice design. The theater can accommodate 400 viewers, but it is not very big. It is very famous among movie fans. It is located in Westwood, which happens to be the location of UCLA. The audience here is highly educated and does not have the narrow-minded concept that America is the best when it comes to foreign culture.

After the screening was over, they waited for another minute after the subtitles rolled before turning on the lights to give the audience time to calm down.

"Wow, wow, wow..." The audience's applause was overwhelming after the lights came on. Director Wayne Wang and several leading actors came on stage to accept the audience's long tributes.

……

Ronald did not stay to enjoy the success with the crew. He had a limousine take the actors to the post-screening party, and he and Diane went home to enjoy the family warmth with little Roger.

But the next day, at around six o'clock, he was still woken up by the daydreaming staff.

"Boss, it's an unexpected success. Cinema Score gave it an A+ rating. Ebert and Cisco both gave it four stars..."

"Ah? Such high reviews, please expand the screening quickly..." Ronald didn't expect to get such high reviews from the audience, and he jumped up from the bed...

I never expected that American audiences would still like such a sad tearjerker.