Everyone has the qualifications to express their own opinions on films, but no one will be indifferent when they hear the other party criticize their works, even if they know that they are "loyal to their ears", not to mention that the other party is still unfounded nonsense, which is definitely an insult to their own works.

On February 17, 1984, a film called "Once Upon a Time in America" was screened in a small area in the United States, and it did not cause much repercussions at the time. Italian director Sergio León was once invited to direct "The Godfather", but he refused the invitation in order to prepare for "Once Upon a Time in America", but when Sergio felt that everything was ready, the popularity of "The Godfather" made the producers lack confidence in the same type of "Once Upon a Time in America".

During these eleven years, every year at the Cannes Film Festival, a handsome Italian man in full dress would sit in the venue, holding a stack of 400-page scripts waiting for investors, and it was not until l983 that Sergio waited for the opportunity to bring "Once Upon a Time in America" to the big screen.

"Once Upon a Time in America" went to the Cannes Film Festival in 1984, and Sergio edited a 229-minute version specifically for the festival – the so-called European version, which was 20 minutes shorter than his favorite director's cut. After the premiere, the audience gave a fifteen-minute standing ovation, and many film critics called it the greatest work of 1984, not one of them.

However, when "Once Upon a Time in America" was released in North America on June 1, it was met with bad reviews, because the producers ignored Sergio's repeated protests and took the liberty to edit the film into 139 minutes, which is the "American version" that has been criticized countless times in the future, almost all the flashback passages in the film have disappeared, and Sergio's well-intentioned Proustian structure has been castrated into a single-line narrative in which "America" is still present and "past" is hard to find.

After the film was released in the United States, it was scolded and the box office was dismal, and this ultra-high investment that cost $40 million turned out to be a failure in just two weeks of theater and earned $4 million at the box office.

The devastated Sergio never picked up a guide tube again, and died of depression in his native Italy five years later.

Years later, when the director's cut of "Once Upon a Time in America" was rediscovered, people realized the excellence of the work, and realized that this was not only a great gangster movie, but also an absolute classic comparable to "Citizen Kane", "Once Upon a Time in America", "The Godfather 2" and "Goodfellas" were recognized as three of the most outstanding works in the long history of gangster films, but ironically, Sergio never received such recognition during his lifetime.

Sergio's American dream was shattered, but he left a precious film in cinematic history, and "Once Upon a Time in America" didn't do well at the box office and didn't get a single Oscar nomination, but its significance doesn't need to be corroborated by that. It was one of Hollywood's greatest failures.

Imagine how Sergio felt when the critics criticized the American version of "Once Upon a Time in America", his heart must have been bleeding, and he spent thirteen years preparing the work, only to be reduced to such a situation, what a terrible despair it was that Sergio finally became completely disappointed with the film and died depressed.

When the European version of "Once Upon a Time in America" was released in Cannes, the rave reviews were the film's most authentic historical evaluation, and the film did not participate in the competition unit that year, but was only released as an exhibition work, but people were always admiring that if "Once Upon a Time in America" participated, then perhaps the winner of the Palme d'Or that year would not be "Paris of Texas." texas)".

Film is actually a kind of art, people's aesthetics are always full of controversy about art, art allows arguments to exist, but it does not allow insults. Warner Bros.'s brutal castration of "Once Upon a Time in America" was an insult; And Kazuo Ishiguro's prejudice against "vulgarity" is also an insult.

In Hugo's view, Kazuo Ishiguro not only did not understand "vulgar", he should have refused to watch "vulgar" seriously, this personal prejudice itself is an insult to the identity of the judge, and more importantly, as a writer, Kazuo Ishiguro's understanding of movies is even poorer, he can't understand the black humor of "vulgarity", he can't understand Quentin's treatment of violent stylization, he can't read the movie's interpretation of American vulgar culture, and he can't understand the retro style of the film......

If it were an ordinary spectator, Hugo could understand it, but he couldn't accept it; If it was a judge, Hugo could not understand it, let alone accept it.

Therefore, what Hugo said just now was to satirize Kazuo Ishiguro for not knowing anything about movies and not being qualified to be a judge; At the same time, it is also a satire that Kazuo Ishiguro refuses to appreciate the "vulgar" because of his personal prejudice, and he does not calm down and watch it slowly, so he naturally can't appreciate the merits.

Nicholas knows Hugo best, so he immediately understood the deep meaning of Hugo's words, Hugo completely gave Kazuo Ishiguro a resounding slap in the face, but he didn't show his feet, this is called "scolding without dirty words", which made Nicholas almost couldn't hold back, and laughed directly.

The reporters at the scene were all human spirits, and they were vaguely aware of the deep meaning in Hugo's polite words, and their expressions were wonderful.

Kazuo Ishiguro was just not used to dealing with reporters - because he was more accustomed to dealing with his own words, but he was not a social person, on the contrary, he immediately heard the hidden sharpness of Hugo's polite words, which made him angry.

Hugo is just an unknown junior, but he is a writer who can win important awards for every work, and most importantly, in his eyes, artists and writers in the entertainment industry are not on the same level at all, and now the authority of writers has been challenged, which makes Kazuo Ishiguro very dissatisfied.

"'The end of the long days' and 'vulgarity' are two completely different carriers, what is needed to understand books is cultural heritage, while understanding movies does not require any conditions, I don't agree with you when you compare the two." Kazuo Ishiguro was almost unable to hide his expression at this time, although there was still a little smile on the corner of his mouth, but his words revealed his stern sù at this time.

The reporters immediately became excited, in fact, generally speaking, like Hugo, when talking about the situation of the scene, even if the words are thorny, smart people will pretend not to understand, or use the same scene words to fight back, and they will not make it clear, because once it is clear, the scene will no longer be "scene" words, and the situation will immediately become tense, and it is about to burst into flames.

However, Kazuo Ishiguro still inevitably lacks some experience in dealing with this situation, although he is forty years old this year, but he has more or less some quirks of writers, and after understanding Hugo's "provocation", he did not think about it, and directly provoked the contradiction - of course, it is not excluded that Kazuo Ishiguro's original dislike of Hugo was at work.

Now the reporters are waiting to see a good show, although today is the premiere of "Money Empire", and it doesn't seem good for two people who are not even supporting roles to occupy the spotlight, but the reporters don't care, and they all look at Hugo with antiquation. Hugo did not disappoint them either.

"Shouldn't art be without thresholds? I only learned today that art is also superior. Hugo said calmly and casually, and after finishing speaking, he showed a bright smile to Kazuo Ishiguro, "Then I don't know if Mr. Kazuo Ishiguro thinks that the artistic value of literature is higher, or the artistic value of drama is higher?"

At present, there are eight globally recognized art forms, architecture, sculpture, painting, music, literature, theater, film, and dance. Before the birth of the art form of film, drama was actually similar to film in a certain way.

Hugo's humble and polite question immediately made Ishiguro stuck, and the sentence "Mr. Ishiguro Kazuo" now sounds like a curse, but Hugo is not ready to give Ishiguro a chance to answer, and continued, "I hope Shakespeare will not come down from heaven and reprimand me for my rudeness." ”

Hugo's ridicule immediately made all the reporters in front of him laugh.

In fact, there is indeed a threshold in the last one, and the main reason is that poor people are constantly struggling for food and clothing, and the spiritual life of art is a luxury, which not everyone can enjoy. However, with the improvement of the material level, after entering the twentieth century, especially after the Second World War, the society gradually stabilized, and the threshold of art was gradually approaching, and in the nineties it became more and more accessible to the people.

Therefore, the idea that Kazuo Ishiguro thinks that the status of a "writer" is superior will not only not be approved, but will also cause a lot of ridicule. It's like the laughter of journalists right now.

Movies, like books, music, painting, dance, etc., are art forms that have no threshold, and can be enjoyed as long as you like them, which is why movies can become an important part of popular culture.

Kazuo Ishiguro naturally knew this, but he didn't think it clearly on the spur of the moment just now, and at this time, seeing the laughter of everyone at the scene, the matter was already very clear, which made him very embarrassed, not only was he caught talking bad about others behind his back, but he also fell behind in a head-to-head confrontation, which is really annoying!

"Everyone has their own different views on art, and I'm sure Kazuo Ishiguro is the same, and it would be great if Kazuo Ishiguro could see 'vulgarity' again if he had the chance. Of course, I will pray that this time Mr. Kazuo Ishiguro will not fall asleep halfway through it. Hugo teased in a relaxed tone, rounding off the already tense atmosphere.

Kazuo Ishiguro, who was standing on the sidelines, was about to explode, but now it's okay: the face and the inside are Hugo's, and he's the bad guy who isn't human inside and out! Holy damn bastard! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Kazakhstan to read and vote for the work to vote for the monthly ticket. Your support is the biggest motivation for me to continue creating! ）