Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 286 Kurosawa Akira

An elevated house in Hawaii.

The man with sparse hair but extremely tall stature was Akira Kurosawa.

He has no beard and his chin is smooth and neat. Even when he is indoors, he wears a pair of sunglasses. However, this is not for the same reason as Shotaro Ishimori, but because Kurosawa Akira suffers from an eye disease that makes his eyes tear up when exposed to the wind. He cannot see the wind and has difficulty seeing the light, so he wears sunglasses all year round.

At Kurosawa's age, he naturally couldn't sit for long. However, the two people before him, like humble juniors, knelt and sat.

Just a closer look at the appearance of these two people will make people somewhat surprised, because they do not look Asian, but pure Westerners.

Francis Ford Coppola, the director of "The Godfather", later won the Oscar for Best Director, the Lifetime Achievement Award, etc.

There was another person, who was very young.

George Lucas.

The creator of Star Wars, and his other achievement is that he founded Industrial Light & Magic, the top special effects company in the United States.

This year, George Lucas was still just a young man in his thirties.

Even with the achievements of these two people, people still have special respect for Kurosawa Akira.

"Mr. Kulusawa!" Coppola bowed, not caring that he was also a famous director in the United States.

"Your retirement is a loss to world cinema. A few setbacks are nothing. No matter what, please return to the film industry!"

George Lucas, a young man with a big beard who looks like he is 80 years old, also saluted.

"Your work has profoundly inspired us. It can be said that without your "Warriors", there would be no "Star Wars". If it is due to filming issues, then we will do our best to resolve them!"

When Kurosawa looked at the two young men in front of him, Americans who could be regarded as his apprentices, a warm current surged in his heart.

Yes, he could no longer find investment in Japan. After the end of the era of big studios, whether the film could make a profit became an important consideration. After several consecutive films failed, he was almost permanently blacklisted by his old employer Toho, and could hardly get any investment from Toho.

In the whole of Japan, there are only a few companies that can make large-scale investments.

Kurosawa still had feelings for Toho, but Toho refused to support him in continuing to make movies.

The films that Kurosawa Akira wanted to make were never low-budget films with simple investment.

Because he is Akira Kurosawa! The one and only Akira Kurosawa in the history of world cinema!

However, Kurosawa Akira was never willing to talk about the predicament he faced.

He is just like the protagonists in the film, he would rather die standing up than kneel down to earn a living.

Of course, there may be another way to say this, which is that it is too pretentious.

But Kurosawa is qualified to hold it up.

George Lucas suddenly spoke up.

"If you're interested, I'm willing to provide a guarantee to 20th Century Fox and borrow some money from them!"

20th Century Fox was formed by the merger of 20th Century Fox and Fox Film Corporation, and is also one of the famous Hollywood film giants.

Of course, this crappy company has a characteristic... It often makes a great movie that makes a lot of money, then makes a lot of bad movies, then makes a lot of profitable movies, and finally makes a big bad movie and loses all the money.

The most classic example is "Cleopatra", which had high costs and low returns and almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox.

The leading actress is Elizabeth Taylor.

Hmm... I heard that Elizabeth Taylor was turned into a Soviet spy by some apple-loving MI6 sleuth next door.

Later, when Cameron was filming Titanic, he initially told 20th Century Fox, "I need $30 million." 20th Century Fox gritted their teeth and said, "Give it to me! We'll make the best possible film!"

Cameron just filmed the truck bed, so he filmed it! Filmed the best! First, dig a big hole, then build a real boat one-to-one!

In this way, 30 million was thrown in, the lake was not yet dug, and another 40 million investment was requested, and the filming had not yet started.

After spending 70 million, they dug a lake. When 20th Century Fox wanted to withdraw its investment, Cameron was very angry: Even if all the senior executives of Fox sell their butts, they have to make up for my investment!
20th Century Fox ultimately sold everything they had, drained their cash flow, and spent $200 million to make Titanic...

Two hundred million US dollars.

Starting from scratch literally.

Of course, the Titanic later became a huge success, but that’s another story.

At least at that time, the top management of Fox was ready to sell their butts.

all in all.

20th Century Fox is a natural sucker, often spending huge amounts of money to make bad movies. Although it can occasionally make good ones, most of the time, they are bad movies.

In Fox's eyes, Kurosawa was just a JAP, but George Lucas and Coppola were different.

These are two new directors, especially George Lucas and his Industrial Light & Magic!

Kurosawa Akira was indeed tempted.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

"I've recently heard some interesting rumors. Back in the Warring States Period, there was a famous lord named 'Takeda Shingen'..."

He slowly told the story of Kagemusha.

George Lucas and Coppola listened quietly, but they knew in their hearts that Kurosawa might really be returning to the film industry.

As long as Fox, the sucker, is willing to take the money, the outcome is certain.

"Good news from the film industry! Director Akira Kurosawa has secured significant funding, increasing investment in the film and providing comprehensive script details. In pursuit of an Oscar, and driven by the philosophy of 'making a great film,' Fox is aggressively squeezing its cash flow..."

After finishing the story and Kurosawa was explaining his ideas, the phone rang.

He picked it up and answered it.

"Honda-kun... Really? Bring him here. No, it's not inconvenient. We can do it right now."

Don't bother two people with one thing. Since you are already meeting guests, it doesn't hurt to meet a few more.

On the contrary, Coppola and George Lucas were a little nervous: "Mr. Kulusawa has other guests? Then, we will take our leave first?"

"It's okay. He's just one of my assistants, a kid I used to know at Toho. Besides that, there's another young man I think has some potential."

George and Lucas looked at each other, then sat opposite each other calmly and did not leave.

Not long after.

Honda Ishiro brought Gu Ming with him and they walked into the reception room.

Gu Ming arrived in Hawaii yesterday. After a day of washing and adjusting himself, he was invited to meet Kurosawa Akira today.

The person facing the entrance door was none other than Kurosawa Akira. Although Gu Ming didn't recognize him, he could tell at a glance that this person could only be Kurosawa Akira.

As for the two people with their backs to him, Gu Ming couldn't tell who they were. He could only guess that they were probably some local Hawaiian thugs.

It can't be that they are two famous movie directors!
(End of this chapter)