Movie Review

Joshua did not offer too much explanation for this performance. Letting White Thorn Flower Jazz see it with his own eyes was the best explanation, so Joshua directly opened the Suitcase, took out the master copy of Beauty and the Demon, found a flat wall in the room, and began the screening.

When the film ended, Joshua felt it was time to discuss formally showing it in the theater with White Thorn Flower Jazz.

It was just that White Thorn Flower Jazz did not seem to have composed himself yet.

"Sorry... sorry... sir."

White Thorn Flower Jazz held a handkerchief and constantly wiped away the tears spilling from his eyes. The makeup on his face had been completely ruined by his tears.

That chubby man who had looked somewhat effeminate before now looked even more so...

Joshua had only ever seen people moved to tears after watching the ending, but White Thorn Flower Jazz's tear ducts had seemingly burst from the middle of the film onward—starting when the Demon Prince saved Belle from the wolves surrounding her.

Were people in the arts always this emotionally rich? White Thorn Flower Jazz was now practically bathing his face in tears.

"Though he had the appearance of a demon, he possessed a truly beautiful soul. For the sake of allowing the person he loved to live happily, he ultimately chose to abandon his own life. This... this is true love without regret."

As White Thorn Flower Jazz wiped away his tears, he sighed over the story's true meaning. He went on to voice nearly a thousand words of insight, leaving Joshua dumbfounded.

Joshua realized there was a reason this gentleman had become the owner of this theater.

As the director, Joshua felt that the only message in the film was, "Do not judge someone by their appearance." Yet White Thorn Flower Jazz had drawn far more from it than Joshua had.

What was a movie review? This was a movie review!

It took White Thorn Flower Jazz several minutes to recover from the tragic atmosphere he had created for himself.

"Sir... this method of performance... is truly unheard of. It is as though another world were displayed before my eyes. May I presumptuously ask the name of this... form of performance?"

White Thorn Flower Jazz could not understand the principle behind those moving images. While watching them, he had felt like an observer witnessing events unfold in another world.

Every scene had been real, rather than mere props and sets like those in a stage play. The viewing angle had not been as distant as looking from the audience seats toward a stage, either.

Several times, White Thorn Flower Jazz could not resist reaching out to touch the moving furniture in the images.

Such a miraculous experience was something White Thorn Flower Jazz could never have imagined in his entire life.

"A movie."

The word Joshua used here was "movie," a completely new term to White Thorn Flower Jazz.

"Movie... movie... It truly will usher in an era, just as you said, sir."

White Thorn Flower Jazz repeated the word Joshua had spoken several times under his breath. He now clearly understood the meaning behind Joshua's earlier words.

A movie's presentation and interpretation of a story script would absolutely be far superior to a stage play.

A movie could completely immerse the audience in the story... It did not need to arrange sets or change costumes between acts like a stage play. Most importantly, movies would allow performances to completely bid farewell to the stage!

Beauty and the Demon had taken White Thorn Flower Jazz to many places: a peaceful little village, a forest piled with snow, and a gloomy yet warm castle.

But aside from his admiration and astonishment toward movies, White Thorn Flower Jazz also felt a faint sadness.

Because the beginning of one era represented the end of another. The appearance of movies might formally declare the decline of stage plays. Just like White Thorn Flower Jazz's theater, no matter how glorious it had once been, it would one day be forgotten.

But that sadness was quickly swept away by the appearance of Beauty and the Demon.

"Sir, do you truly intend... to show this film in my theater?"

White Thorn Flower Jazz knew that the moment this film was shown, it would be recorded in the annals of this world's history!

"I do not think Nolan National Theater would welcome me with such grandeur."

Joshua lifted the cup of hot black tea at his side and took a small sip. As expected, being a programmer at heart, he preferred coffee to black tea. Still, green tea and cola were Joshua's favorite drinks.

He just did not know whether this world had a plant like coffee beans.

"That is right! Those people at that theater are all despicable swindlers... merchants who do not understand what art is at all!"

At the thought of the theater that had poached his entire troupe, White Thorn Flower Jazz felt nothing but hatred.

But he quickly composed himself. These days, even the greatest artists needed money to survive. The theater's recent string of losses had made White Thorn Flower Jazz realize this, so he knew that the conversation to come would not be between two artists, but between two businessmen.

"Sir, I will take full responsibility for arranging the film's screening at the theater, including its promotion. As for the revenue from ticket sales, how about you take seventy percent?"

If White Thorn Flower Jazz had not been so desperately short of money that he could not even pay his staff, he might have chosen to let Joshua take all of it, so long as the film could be shown in his theater.

"No problem."

Compared to films on Earth, where the theaters took a cut of the box office after release, and the production side only received its share after paying various promotional costs and taxes, the terms White Thorn Flower Jazz offered were extremely generous.

Not to mention that, theoretically, Joshua had not spent a single coin producing this film. Everything was pure profit.

"Then please wait a moment while I draft a contract. Also, sir, you may first go to the Patent Association to register the copyright for this film, as well as the patent rights for your technology."

Nolan was a nation that valued contracts. At the very least, Nolan's laws were already quite comprehensive. Even things like lawsuits had begun to take shape.

"I will do that. Before then, I would like to look around this theater."

This theater was large enough, and its interior decorations were lavish enough, but all of it had been prepared for stage plays. The performance space had likely been designed for stage plays as well.

There were still certain differences between a cinema and a theater. Before the film was shown, Joshua needed to temporarily transform this theater into a movie theater.

"Of course. Please follow me."

White Thorn Flower Jazz stood and personally led Joshua on a tour of the theater.

When he opened the door, Joshua saw Helan and Ciri, who had been waiting outside for nearly two hours.

The attendant had specifically found them a table and two chairs. Black tea and pastries were laid out on the table. It seemed the two sisters had enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea over those two hours, along with... hundreds of matches of Tennis for Two.