The test screening of "Basic Instinct" was held in a theater in Century City, Beverly Hills. Simon and Janet set out from Malibu and read Sofia Facey's investigative report on the way.
In my memory, there are too many cases of rich and famous people encountering unfortunate events because of misbehavior, and there are many cases where their families were broken up and their lives were destroyed. The affairs that Sophia Fessey was responsible for were closely related to Simon's private life, and he seemed very cautious in this matter.
Simon was very satisfied with Sophia Fessey's resume in the report.
An ordinary girl from a seaside town in Corsica, France, graduated from French Public University No. 10, majoring in administration. According to the information, this woman's grades in college were amazing. After graduating at the age of 22, she worked for an investment company in Paris for three years and then unexpectedly entered the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich to study business administration. However, she dropped out of school after just one year and married her ex-husband Paul Blaney.
Paul Breni is a businessman who runs a red wine business. The Breni family owns their own wineries in popular wine producing areas such as Bordeaux, Provence and the Loire Valley in France. However, the marriage only lasted three years and ended in failure. Sofia Fesi obtained the custody of a pair of children. In recent years, she has worked as a luxury agent for a top real estate agency in Nice, close to Cannes. The performance is outstanding.
Simon flipped through the information in his hand page by page. Janet leaned next to him and asked: "How is it? It's interesting, isn't it?"
In addition to the main resume, the report also contains some descriptions of Sophia Fessey's marriage to her ex-husband who was eleven years older than her and the reasons for their divorce. During the divorce process, this woman succeeded in using Paul Blaney's bad record of domestic violence. He won the custody of a pair of children, but at the price he only received a one-time alimony of 5 million francs. After paying the expensive legal fees for a year, there was not much left.
Obviously, the businessman named Paul Blaney is also a determined and ruthless man. The information shows that Sofia Fesi's children are now only 7 and 5 years old. The assets of the Breni family exceed 300 million francs, but Paul Breni has not paid a cent in support for his children in recent years.
When Simon heard Janet's question, he reached out and pinched the woman's chin, and said with a smile: "You just come from a good background. You don't know how difficult it is for a helpless little woman to go all the way, but you find it interesting. "
"No," Janet shook off Simon's hand dissatisfied, grabbed the investigation report and flipped through a few pages, then handed it over and said, "Look, it's actually the businessman who recently wanted to take back the two little ones. What about the custody rights of this guy? He was in an accident while traveling on a yacht two years ago and must have lost his fertility. Looking at Sofia Fessy, it’s no coincidence that she agreed to work for you. She wants a A strong enough support to protect myself from losing custody rights."
Simon browsed through the pages of information in front of him, just smiled and said: "Boss should protect their employees. Since you are so interested in this matter, you can come forward when necessary."
Janet looked very interested as expected, nodding and humming a few times with an evil expression on her face. Seeing that the woman was about to become a sperm, Simon quickly stretched out his hand to suppress it. Being attacked in the ribs, Janet immediately softened with a smile.
The test screening started at seven o'clock, and Simon and Janet arrived outside a theater in Century City's AMC theater chain ten minutes early.
In order to build as much publicity as possible, Fox made this test screening quite grand and even specially arranged a red carpet. A large number of media reporters and enthusiastic fans holding various posters gathered outside the theater.
Simon and Janet got out of the car, and the originally orderly crowd suddenly became commotion. If the security guards hadn't stopped them, the crowd would have almost rushed to the two of them. Seeing this situation, Simon did not accept an interview. He just cooperated in taking photos and hurried into the theater with Janet.
The two were led to a lounge by the staff. Fox Chairman Barry Diller and Fox Film President Ronald Goldberg had already arrived in advance. Brian De Palma, Michael ·In addition to Douglas and other main creators of "Basic Instinct", there are also several big-name film critics in the lounge.
The test screening was about to begin, and everyone quickly entered the screening room and took their seats without much exchange of greetings.
Simon took Janet, Barry Diller and others to sit down slightly in the front and glanced around. The medium-sized screening room of more than two hundred people was almost full, all of them media reporters and film critics from all over North America. This also shows that Fox Pictures spared no effort for this test screening, because most of the people’s food, accommodation, travel expenses and other expenses were borne by Fox.
The lights dimmed and the movie screening soon began.
After a short and psychedelic opening, a red and passionate scene appeared in front of everyone, which caught many film critics off guard.
Although Simon's previous "Pulp Fiction" was very bloody and violent, there were no explicit scenes from beginning to end.
However, this passionate scene was just the beginning. When the woman suddenly pulled out an ice pick and stabbed the man underneath her mercilessly, blood splattered everywhere. Some media reporters and film critics in the screening room were almost stunned.
Is this a Simon Westeros script
Is this a script written by Simon Westeros, who has created a series of "Lola Run", "The Butterfly Effect", "The Last Day" and even the most recent "Pulp Fiction", which is also amazing
In the screening room not far from the main creator, Terrence Rafferty, the famous film critic from "The New Yorker", waited for the opening scene to end, glanced at the young man not far away, and asked the person next to him who was also frowning. Richard Schickel, chief film critic of Time Magazine, said: "Is it possible that someone else's script has Westeros' name on it?"
Richard Schickel also looked in a certain direction, shook his head and said: "I think if it weren't for the contract with Fox Pictures, Westeros would never have put his name on this film. .”
Terrence Rafferty thought for a moment and couldn't help but nodded.
However, he soon felt that perhaps other well-known directors or screenwriters tried their best not to associate themselves with controversial films, but a young man in Westeros who did not follow common sense might not care about this. "Pulp Fiction" also caused a lot of controversy during this period. A youth protection organization in New York State even protested to the state government because of the explicit description of drug injection in "Pulp Fiction" and demanded that the film be blocked.
Now, Westeros has just squandered a lot of violence unscrupulously, and has begun to show naked eroticism again.
I really don't know what he will do next.
Terrence Rafferty is actually a fan of "Batman" comics. Looking at some hints of plots that can be seen on the big screen less than half an hour into the movie, he is even a little worried that Simon Westeros will "Batman" was also made into an R-rated movie not suitable for children.
God was so kind to that young man.
Perhaps, he should suffer some setbacks this time.
With this idea in mind, Terrence Rafferty once again turned his attention to the big screen. Even if he wanted to criticize this film, he would definitely watch it carefully.
Investing his energy, Terrence Rafferty also quickly noticed the performance of the heroine Linda Fiorentino. He actually did not know the actress's name, but remembered her in Martin Scorsese Si's "After Hours" starred in the image of an eccentric artist.
Although he was very disgusted with the theme of this film, Terrence Rafferty had to admit that, like Sandra Bullock in "Lola Run" and Meg in "When Harry Met Sally" ·Ryan Like Nicole Kidman in Pulp Fiction, Simon Westeros has once again picked the right heroine.
However, for the same reason, it may be difficult for the actress to escape her position in "Basic Instinct".
In addition, the performance of the new actor Michael Douglas is also remarkable, and director Brian De Palma vividly expressed his preference for Hitchcock in the film.
Moreover, in addition to the ubiquitous sexual themes, the core of this film is just like its title "Basic Instinct". In the final analysis, it shows the deep-rooted desires in human nature that drive a person's behavior. The femme fatale heroine is also taking advantage of human nature. Instinct controls the men around her. However, her behavior may also come from the dark instinct in human nature.
At the end of the screening, Terrence Rafferty unknowingly discovered that if the sexual aspects of this film were removed, it would still be a film worth savoring. But then think about it, if those elements are really removed, this film, which has been dubbed "Basic Instinct", will still be overshadowed after all.
This is a proposition that cannot have both ends.
The credits at the end of the film began to rise. Terrence Rafferty was still thinking about the plot just now. Richard Schickel next to him suddenly came over and whispered: "Roger left early."
Terrence Rafferty was stunned for a moment before he remembered.
There may not be only one person named Roger in this screening room, but the person who can be named by Richard Schickel without mentioning his last name can only be the famous Chicago film critic Roger Eber special.
Because of his preconceived notions, Terrence Rafferty still had some prejudices against the film he just watched, but in his heart he was no longer so disgusted with it. Out of some intellectual contempt, Terrence Rafferty smiled teasingly and said, "It's normal. Roger Ebert has never been too fond of this type of suspense-thriller film. .”
Terrence Rafferty said it politely, but Richard Schickel smiled knowingly.
As one of the few top film critics in North America who can be said to be a top-notch film critic, Roger Ebert's film review style has always been known for his gentleness, but he only makes exceptions for certain types of films, and that is the thriller and suspense genre.
There is actually an allusion to this. Many years ago, a high-spirited young man planned to become a screenwriter and liked thrillers and suspense films. However, the scripts he created were rejected time and time again. As a last resort, he had to change careers. film critic. Because of his "tragic experience" when he was a screenwriter, this film critic who became a monk and eventually became a famous film critic is particularly harsh on thrillers and suspense films.
After chatting and laughing, Richard Schickel saw that the subtitles on the big screen were about to end, and he couldn't help but ask Terence Rafferty beside him: "Are you going to Fox's reception next time?"
Terrence Rafferty was a little hesitant. He was still very interested in Simon Westeros and originally planned to take this opportunity to chat with him. However, in the current situation, Fox's reception is obviously of a public relations nature. If he went to attend and was lobbied at the reception, Terrence Rafferty felt that it would be difficult for him to say too much about "Basic Instinct". Harsh average.
Although, after watching the entire film, Terrence Rafferty's impression of "Basic Instinct" is not too bad, but after all, he is unwilling to have his opinions influenced by others.
He turned around and looked around. Apart from Roger Ebert, there were obviously some other people in the screening room who had already left early. It was obvious that although they had received various entertainments from Fox Pictures, a large number of people still used this method. Expressed his attitude, perhaps those people will not accept Fox's return ticket in the future.
After retracting his gaze, Terrence Rafferty nodded and said: "Go ahead, I'm still very curious about that young man. Charlie, what about you?"
Richard Schickel also nodded: "I plan to go there too."
Before the screening of the movie had even begun, Ronald Goldberg kept hearing reports from his assistant that people were leaving early. It is true that Fox intends to use a controversial marketing strategy, but when things develop in the end, Ronald Goldberg is a little worried that if the reputation of "Basic Instinct" completely collapses, then nothing will happen next. No more 'controversy' to speak of.
The reception was held at the nearby InterContinental Hotel in Century City.
More than three of the more than two hundred film critics who attended the preview did not show up after the screening, which once again cast a shadow on Ronald Goldberg's heart. Starting from last year's "The Butterfly Effect", Fox's performance suddenly improved, and this summer's summer release saw the unexpected success of "Future". The company originally had high hopes for "Basic Instinct", and Ronald Goldberg also expected that he would be able to accumulate experience with "Basic Instinct" and receive a bonus before officially leaving his job this fall, which would help him start a new company after leaving the company. New companies accumulate more capital.
But now, the situation has suddenly become uncertain again.
After enthusiastically chatting among the crowd, Ronald Goldberg also roughly saw the strong polarization of film critics towards this film. However, at the same time, due to the excessive praise of Simon Westeros Hopefully, this polarized reputation is actually more of a criticism.
Obviously, "Basic Instinct" will definitely be controversial next, but the reputation may become very bad.
Ronald Goldberg isn't sure that audiences will pay for a controversial and poorly received film, even if it's a Simon Westeros movie, or, especially, because it's a Simon Westeros movie. Westeros movies.
With this worried mood, Ronald Goldberg walked up to Simon and Barry Diller who were chatting. Looking at the expressions of the two talking and laughing freely, he couldn't help but said: "You don't seem to be worried at all. .”