Chapter 534: Chapter 255 Anticipated
In the circular theater, a splendid drama was being perford, and all around, the colorful audience, whether they were the poorest seated at the bottom or the nobles seated upstairs, stretched their necks and widened their eyes to watch the actors’ performance on the stage, afraid of missing even the slightest detail. This was not only because the plot was extrely thrilling but also because it was the first ti a woman had appeared on stage to play a role!
“In such a mad state, wouldn’t I pick up an ancestor’s bone and use it as a stick to break my dizzy head? Ah, look! Isn’t that Tybalt’s ghost there, chasing Roo to avenge his sword’s blow? Wait, Tybalt, wait! Roo, I am coming! I drink this potion for you!” The lady half-reclined on the sarcophagus, raised her hands high, and recited in a tragic and passionate tone, then suddenly threw her head back and brought the prop bottle to her lips, before collapsing softly onto the sarcophagus.
“Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your last embrace! And, lips, O you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death! Co, bitter conductor, co, unsavory guide! You desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks your seasick weary bark! Here’s to my love! Oh, the apothecary was truthful, the drug works swiftly. Thus, with a kiss, I die.” Afterward, the man who ca on stage, seeing the lady’s “corpse,” was heartbroken and, with a grieving and desperate tone, recited his lines before also lifting a cup to his lips and then falling down next to her.
The atmosphere in the theater instantly beca heated; the drama had reached its climax. Everyone knew that the lady was actually feigning death, but the man truly died. What would the lady do when she awakened? Indeed, the play being perford was one of Shakespeare’s greatest works: “Roo and Juliet.”
Similarly, the audience outside the screen was also engrossed, but their attention was not on the play. The protagonists, Shakespeare and his lover, Miss Viola, were their focus. Everyone wanted to know if Viola could ultimately break free from her engagent and end up with Shakespeare.
However, the ending was both expected and unexpected by the audience. Although officials threatened to shut down the theater for allowing a woman to perform, the sudden appearance of Queen Elizabeth I changed the situation. The Queen greatly praised the play and pardoned both Viola and the theater’s faults. However, Shakespeare did not end up with his lover, as the Queen declared, “She cannot break a marriage,” and still assigned Viola to Sir Weiser. Shakespeare had to accept this reality and, in endless longing, wrote the script for “Twelfth Night” in his lover’s na.
“A film of extre brilliance; if Adrian’s ‘Elizabeth’ last week fully showcased his understanding of United Kingdom history, then the newly released ‘Shakespeare in Love’ reveals his grasp of Shakespearean works,” wrote the renowned film critic Shuman Wilson in his column the following day. “The entire film exudes an atmosphere unique to Shakespeare. The beautifully poetic dialogue and those delightful minor details familiar in Shakespeare’s other works—including the female protagonist’s na and the tumultuous relationship of the leading roles—Adrian perfectly blended these elents into the film, transforming it into a tale of Shakespeare’s own. Fluid and smooth without any roughness, this cinematic story reached new heights.”
“Gwyneth Paltrow delivered her most spectacular performance to date; the entire film is a Shakespearean drama about Shakespeare, with unexpected plot twists and distinct character traits, and she erges as the genuine heroine from a Shakespearean play—pure, sensitive, and gracefully captivating! Dennis Knight’s performance also surprised everyone. Based on his poise in the film, no one would think him an Arican actor, nor that he had scarcely read or perford much of Shakespeare’s work,” comnted the New York Tis on the lead actors’ performances.
“Undoubtedly, Geoffrey Rush’s performance was the standout of the entire film; when you see the comical theater owner, you could never associate him with the sinister Sir Walsingham from last week’s ‘Elizabeth’. Equally brilliant was Judi Dench’s portrayal of Elizabeth I, who, despite her brief eight-minute appearance, which differs greatly from Kate Blanchett’s portrayal, fully demonstrated regal elegance. One believes that if Shakespeare were to write a drama about Elizabeth I, this would be how she appeared,” was the review from USA Today.
As Adrian had anticipated, most dia outlets provided favorable reviews, including IMDb and the newly funded website planning to rebrand as Rotten Tomatoes. Although so, like the dia in the United Kingdom, sourly noted that Dennis’s performance was barely satisfactory, condemning his depiction of Shakespeare as the worst in history, it did not cause much controversy.
Their sentints were understandable; for such an engaging, inventively British-style film completely led by Aricans—from the director to both lead actors—it was indeed a blow to their pride, especially since the female lead of ‘Elizabeth’ was at least from a British Commonwealth mber, Australia. However, they dared not criticize the Miracle Director, as Adrian had proved his mastery over British-style films countless tis, and Gwyneth was represented by ‘Emma’, which most British dia had praised. Upon reflection, they could only critique Dennis.
Though Dennis had also played British roles, they were few, and he had never ventured into classical styles or approached Shakespeare, making him an easier target. Yet this did little, as the film’s quality had been recognized, and Dennis’s performance, while perhaps slightly lacking compared to the original, still received good reviews.
Moreover, many dia sources specifically highlighted the extensive preparation he undertook for the role, how he studied Shakespeare’s works, and imrsed himself in the characters to truly understand them, which added a resilient, unwavering aura to his reputation. Consequently, the British dia’s nitpicking appeared even more petty.
“They’ve now changed tactics and started to heavily praise Geoffrey, but it’s still futile,” said Adrian as he dabbed his charcoal pencil on the sketchpad.
“Because everyone already knows what they’re thinking, right?” Gwyneth asked with a giggly smile from the couch, where she was practically naked, holding only a white blanket over her lower abdon, her perky breasts fully exposed. More outrageously, her legs were widely spread; one was draped onto the floor, the other rested on the couch, her light pubic hair and vulva clearly visible.
“Yes, dear,” Adrian laughed heartily, then looked up at her with an appreciative gaze. He knew it had taken quite so effort to get her into this pose for him to draw, and naturally, he’d take his ti with it.
“Ed, can you not be so unabashed?” Gwyneth blushed slightly.
“I must capture it perfectly, so it’s necessary to observe closely,” Adrian chuckled.
“It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.” Gwyneth rolled her eyes and then turned to Blanchett, who was sipping tea next to her, “Were you like this just now?”
“Of course,” Blanchett, also wearing nothing but a white blanket, shrugged her shoulders, “Did you think he would spare ?”
Gwyneth sighed and then smirked, “You know, Kate, the dia are saying I perford better than you.”
Blanchett rely huffed and didn’t respond, then looked over at Adrian with a hint of dissatisfaction in her gray-blue eyes. Adrian just shrugged and smiled, lowering his head to continue drawing. Gwyneth was right; recently, the dia had been praising her portrayal of Elizabeth I over Blanchett’s, but this was just a byproduct of previous adulations.
Before the release of “Shakespeare in Love,” Adrian had specially arranged for a few people to praise Gwyneth in the dia. In his opinion, Blanchett’s acting skills indeed surpassed Gwyneth’s, so Blanchett could act naturally, while Gwyneth needed so arrangents just in case. It wasn’t anything significant; every big star had either friends or hires working in the dia, ready to wave flags and shout for them.
Don’t take the so-called press freedom too seriously; even dia conglorates have their biases, let alone these stars. Thus, arranging people to praise oneself or attack a rival is quite normal. After the film’s release, Gwyneth already received many positive reviews, and with these specially arranged people guiding, a widespread narrative erged that she outperford Blanchett.
Both Blanchett and Gwyneth knew the ins and outs, and logically, Blanchett should have felt proud, as the real, substantive praise was more in her favor. But now, contrary to expectations, Blanchett felt a bit of dissatisfaction, which is just how strange won can be.
“Speaking of which, I’m the saddest; clearly, I had several scenes, but nobody noticed them, not even the subtitles in the back, right?” At this, Adrian sighed.
Gwyneth and Blanchett imdiately burst out laughing. Already during “Forrest Gump,” Adrian had made a cao in the film, and while shooting both “Shakespeare in Love” and “Elizabeth” simultaneously, he again entertained the idea and secured himself two minor roles: a front row spectator in “Shakespeare in Love” and a mber among the many nobles in “Elizabeth.”
But he didn’t know whether it was because the makeup was too convincing, or for so other reason, that no one noticed his cao role, even though the cara panned across his face several tis. This sowhat depressed him.
“All right, ladies, have you laughed enough?” Seeing that Gwyneth and Kate Blanchett were still laughing, Adrian couldn’t help but shout, but this only made the two won laugh even harder.
Well, don’t bla for being impolite. Adrian spread his hands, put down the charcoal pencil, took out sothing from the toolbox beside him, aid it at Gwyneth, who was seated on the couch with her legs apart, and then there was a click. Gwyneth was stunned for a mont, then quickly realized what was happening, and imdiately jumped up screaming, trying to snatch the object from his hand.
Adrian laughed and lifted the digital cara over his head, then brought up the image, “Wow, wow, look, Gwyneth, you look really beautiful in this.”
“Give it back to , Ed! Damn it, how could you do this!” Gwyneth’s cheeks flushed red, not caring that the blanket had fallen to the floor, revealing her nudity as she kept jumping trying to get it back.
“Help , Kate, don’t just stand there watching!” she then turned her head and complained bitterly, “This ti it’s , next ti it’ll be your turn!”
Who knew Kate Blanchett would just shrug it off carelessly: “I’ve already been photographed.”
“You’ve already been photographed?” Gwyneth exclaid, widening her eyes.
“Yes, Kate has already been photographed, right here.” Adrian laughed out loud as he brought up Kate’s image from the cara.
Although Gwyneth was sowhat far from the small screen, she could still see Kate Blanchett’s pose, a rear-view shot, her fingers spread apart, looking far more indecent than her own pose just now.
“This… this…” Gwyneth stamred, unable to speak, looking back and forth between Adrian and Kate Blanchett. She was far too bold, wasn’t she? But recalling various things about Kate Blanchett, it wasn’t surprising she would do sothing so audacious.
“Don’t worry, dear, I just wanted to capture all your beautiful images, I’ll leave the cara here with you, just like those tapes I secretly fild last year in London.” Adrian hugged Gwyneth while laughing playfully, and took the chance to knead her bare buttocks a few tis.
Gwyneth stared at him silently for a long while, then Adrian’s smile grew wider: “By the way, speaking of which, we’ve never taken a photo of you two together in this manner.”
“Don’t you dare… ah!” Gwyneth had barely spoken when she scread, suddenly realizing that Kate Blanchett had dropped the blanket wrapped around her and hugged her from behind.
“Wait! You guys… can’t do this!” Gwyneth still tried to protest, but it was futile, so the clicking sound of the shutter quickly resud.
Adrian was very satisfied with the current state of the two movies, and the premieres had been successful; the only regret was that because there were many viewers, he and Gwyneth, Kate Blanchett sat in the middle seat surrounded by people, so it was not possible to recreate the scene at the premiere of “Mulholland Drive,” teasing Naomi and Nicole simultaneously.
Both movies were released on a Friday. “Elizabeth” had an opening box office around 5.5 million, and “Shakespeare in Love” was slightly lower, above 5 million. It seed far from Adrian’s usual track record, but that wasn’t actually the case, as both movies had about 300 theaters showing them.
This was normal, the better the business prospects of a movie, the more theaters it could secure, especially during the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year movie hot season. Whether “Elizabeth” or “Shakespeare in Love,” the artistic atmosphere was significantly richer than their comrcial value. If not for the producer being the Miracle Director, securing 300 theaters would have been uncertain.
Managing to gross 5 million in three days with 300 theaters was quite comndable, so expanding the number of theaters was only a matter of ti. Although “Elizabeth” currently held the advantage, it was expected that in the end, “Shakespeare in Love” would reach higher box office numbers. Both were British films speaking about famous British figures, but “Shakespeare in Love” had a bigger edge, the protagonist was Shakespeare!
Shakespeare is quite famous in the United States, far exceeding Elizabeth I. There’s a joke that teases Aricans: in the eyes of most Aricans, the most famous literary figure is Shakespeare. They might not know which country Shakespeare was from, they might not know which era he belonged to, but they absolutely know who Shakespeare was.
Choosing to tell the story of such a widely recognized figure naturally attracted more viewers.
Alright, enough of that. Although the two long-awaited films produced last year were successfully released, it didn’t an Adrian could relax, although he had ti to discuss photography techniques with Gwyneth and Kate Blanchett. It was the end of the year after all, a hot period for movies, and every week brought nurous premieres he was invited to.
“This is what you need to consider, and this one you must attend,” Charlize placed two invitations in front of him.
“Aren’t you going to give so advice?” Adrian asked. Unfortunately, as he looked up, Charlize’s pear-shaped silhouette had just disappeared at the door.
So stingy? He raised an eyebrow, but after picking up the invitations he soon understood. The first invite, although optional, was best attended if he had the ti. It was for “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks, a joint investnt by DreamWorks and Bossworth.
The film’s script was initially obtained by DreamWorks, Spielberg had really wanted Adrian to direct, and Hanks was very supportive, but unfortunately, he had his own plans and thus respectfully declined. Though this movie had dragged on until it was only fully completed in August this year, and though it premiered two years earlier due to the butterfly effect, with Hanks starring and Spielberg producing, it was bound to be as superior as the original.
As for the other premiere he must attend, it was for a movie delayed a year because of him, a project brought out early to compete for more Oscars for “Titanic” but ultimately never fild—costing two young people their careers—now starring William Robbins, Joaquin Phoenix, and Natalie, “Good Will Hunting.” (
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