Move Aside, I'm Going to Cheat

"All units, get ready!"

"Lighting department, OK!"

"Camera department, OK!"

"Actors, take your positions!"

"Run Lola Run, Act 1, Scene 1, action!"

Following Zucker's command, the entire crew sprang into action. Today, Zucker was in an incredibly good state, his entire being buzzing with excitement.

This is it, the first movie of my life—counting my previous one—is finally filming.

Act 1, Scene 1.

It was the argument between the male lead, Manni, and the female lead, Lola.

The male lead, Manni, was played by Professor X—no, wait, by James McAvoy, with a salary of $45,000.

The female lead, Lola, who was also the primary protagonist of the film, was played by Charlize Theron, with a salary of $9,000.

That's right, just $9,000.

The boss is truly ruthless. If it weren't for the Screen Actors Guild's minimum wage standards for lead actors, the boss definitely wouldn't have paid more than $2,000.

Victor, the CEO of Wald Pictures and the producer of the film, watched Zucker direct from the sidelines, his heart trembling slightly.

He couldn't help but recall an evening a few days ago when Zucker had said: "Damn the Screen Actors Guild for having minimum wage standards. An inhumane organization like this that hinders the development of Hollywood should be ruthlessly abolished!"

Today's shoot was quite interesting.

With a rookie director, a rookie male lead, and a rookie female lead—a trio of absolute disasters—even though Victor had arranged a professional and experienced filming team, they couldn't quite pull off a victory. The entire filming process could be described as bumpy and stumbling.

Problems were popping up everywhere!

"Damn it, Charlize, I'm begging you, can you scream hysterically or not?"

"Cut! You look terrible when you cry, with that icy face—do you think you're playing a queen? Can we film this or not? If you can't, get out!"

"And you, James McAvoy, you're playing a small-time thug who's about to be killed because he owes people money, not a high schooler going to prom. Could you please be a bit more professional!"

"Lights! Lights! What are you guys in the lighting department doing?"

"Can you please brighten the lights? We aren't filming a horror movie, OK?"

Throughout the entire day, Zucker remained in a state of rage.

He would lose his temper at the drop of a hat.

In reality, Zucker usually had a pretty good temper. Even if he often cursed, it was mostly in jest, and he rarely got truly angry.

But.

Today, Zucker was genuinely furious!

"Damn it!"

"Making movies is really not a job for humans; it's just too exhausting."

"If I'm not careful, all this worrying will give me gray hair, or even make me go bald—it might even shorten my life. This is just too terrifying."

Part of Zucker's anger was directed at himself.

Why did he decide to be the director in the first place?

"As the boss, shouldn't I be playing golf every day, sipping red wine, eating steak, dating beautiful women every few days, and then making money easily? Wouldn't that be great?"

Why did he have to put himself through such mental and physical labor?

Besides, whenever he thought of certain future classic films, even if he couldn't remember them in full, he could find screenwriters to fill in the gaps, or even rely on the system's help. Was he really worried about not having good movies of his own in the future? Making movies should be left to professional directors; that way, the box office would be guaranteed. Hmm, I could hire cheap directors, or even find future rising stars and masters!

For example: Inception director Christopher Nolan;

Saw and Aquaman director James Wan;

The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson;

The Avengers director Joss Whedon.

And so on.

These masters weren't famous yet!

"Next time I make a movie, I'm never directing it myself; I'll just hire them. Not only are they cheap to hire, but I'll also earn the reputation of being a talent scout."

Hiring future masters to make movies—isn't that beautiful?!

Isn't that sweet?!

"I'm such a clever little guy, haha!"

Zucker still had confidence in this shoot of Run Lola Run.

Zucker knew he was a rookie director with no particular talent for directing, but at the very least, he had watched the finished film of Run Lola Run more than once and knew what kind of effect he needed to achieve. That's right, Zucker had self-awareness.

Since his directing ability was lacking, he would just film it according to the original, recreating it as closely as possible.

Sure enough, once the mindset was adjusted, the subsequent filming went much more smoothly.

This was the state of "if you can't pass the exam, can't you even cheat?"!

Run Lola Run mainly tells the story of: in Berlin, Germany, a low-level mobster named Manni calls his girlfriend Lola (the female lead of this film) to say he lost 100,000 marks (estimated to be 400,000 to 500,000 RMB—how did you not manage to lose yourself?). If he doesn't return the money in 20 minutes, he will be KO'd by the mob.

The plot that follows is actually very simple.

It's Lola traveling through time!

Three time travels, three runs!

The first run: Lola intends to borrow money from her father but fails, so she and Manni rob a supermarket, Lola is accidentally shot by the police, and she enters the underworld.

After time reverses, the second run begins: Lola holds her father hostage at the bank and gets the money, but unfortunately, Manni is hit and killed by an ambulance, and she enters the underworld yet again.

The third run is finally a happy ending; Lola wins money at the casino, and Manni finds the lost money. The two not only solve the problem but also make a fortune, and in the end, the two walk away hand in hand in harmony.

Seeing this, do you think this is just another cliché "damsel saves the loser" romance movie? How could this alone earn a Golden Lion nomination at the Venice Film Festival?

No, the charm of Run Lola Run lies far beyond that.

Feminism!

In Run Lola Run, it is practically women saving the world.

Within the same 20 minutes, the woman (Lola) is running and actively solving problems. The man (Manni) is passively waiting for the verdict of fate. Like all feminist films, Lola actively changes everything, even changing time and space. The misalignment between men and women when facing fate highlights the current world, where the roles and positions of men and women have undergone tremendous changes.

"Screw feminism? I'm certainly not one!"

"But who cares, as long as this gimmick can make many female viewers willing to pay for it?"

Well, Zucker is just that shameless!

Run Lola Run is one of the few female-led films of the 90s. Yes, that's right, in his past life, Zucker was just an ordinary person struggling to get by, focusing every day on when to get off work and how much bonus he could get this month. He was never a feminist, but as long as it could make money, Zucker absolutely wouldn't mind selling dog meat under the guise of a sheep's head.

One month!

A full month had passed.

Zucker, a rookie director who had never made a movie before, had miraculously finished filming Run Lola Run. Not only was he fast, but the filming was also quite good.

This left everyone in the crew dumbfounded, exclaiming that they couldn't believe it.

"My God!"

"Who said the boss was making a movie for the first time? Haven't you seen how beautiful the shots are?"

"It's simply incredible!"

"Mr. Wald is a film genius!"

Everyone marveled at Zucker's magic.

CEO Victor: "Boss, you should stay in Hollywood; you are a genius!"

Professor X James: "Director, please allow me to call you the most outstanding young director in Hollywood!"

Charlize: "Zucker, you must cast me next time you make a movie, even if there's no salary!"

"Heh, you bunch of foolish mortals!"

Well, Zucker himself was also feeling quite smug.

Filming quickly and with good quality?

That's only natural. If you had watched the finished film more than once and been punished by having to write fifty papers analyzing the movie, you would also be successful.

It's like an exam; while others are racking their brains to answer, you are entering the exam room with the answer key, so you can definitely finish with a perfect score in 10 minutes. Well, even if this film wasn't a perfect score, Zucker felt that it was close to the original, with at least a 90% recreation.

Cheating?

Who would know? Heh!

Chapter 1 is delivered. I'm quite busy today, so Chapter 2 will arrive a little later than usual.