Chapter 327: The Most Romantic Thing

"Scene 12, Take 8, first shot, action!"

The car arrived at the Île de la Cité set on the Seine River. Woody Allen, seeing Link and Marion Cotillard get out of the car, didn't even bother to greet them, his face dark. He just yelled, "Get them in makeup, we're rolling in ten minutes!"

Link wasn't about to get into a tiff with him. He changed into his costume, a well-tailored grey suit.

This suit had been the source of many arguments with Allen.

Initially, Allen wanted him in a loose-fitting casual suit and a wrinkled shirt, claiming that's how he usually dressed.

Link disagreed. The character, after revisions, was no longer the original Woody Allen, but Link Baker.

His clothing should reflect his image and personality. It could be relaxed, casual even, but there was no need for a wrinkled shirt, to deliberately make him look sloppy.

The character was a famous author and Hollywood screenwriter; his girlfriend's family was also very wealthy. He'd be well-dressed.

Also, there was the second female lead, Adriana. She was the lover of Picasso, Hemingway, Amedeo, and other renowned figures. She'd seen plenty of exceptional men.

If the male lead was邋遢and long-winded, lacking any masculinity, why would she leave Picasso or Hemingway for him?

Link believed a more handsome male lead, with sharp attire, would showcase a modern man's charm and capture the second female lead's attention, leading her to fall in love with him.

Woody Allen disagreed, insisting the second female lead fell for the male lead's talent, his inner qualities, not his looks.

Link countered, asking if the male lead, no matter how talented, could surpass Picasso, Hemingway, or Fitzgerald?

The two were at a standstill when the costume designer, Sonia Grande, stepped in, suggesting they try both outfits and see the effect.

When Link changed into the tailored suit, the crew's attention was immediately drawn to him. The sharp suit, the messy yet stylish hair, the chiseled face - he exuded the aura of a classic, literary actor.

A few female staff members couldn't help but applaud and cheer, calling him sexy.

Allen stared at him for a few minutes, his face dark. He muttered a few curses about how awful Link looked, like some playboy, then called for the crew to prepare for filming.

"Cut!"

"Link, are you even an actor? Look at what you're doing, it's garbage! I'm telling you, with that performance, forget the Oscars, you won't even win a Zimbabwean film award."

On set, Allen stood behind the monitor, yelling at him.

When the crew heard him mention the "Zimbabwe Film Awards," they couldn't help but snicker. It was undoubtedly a new award made up by Director Allen to undermine Link.

Link shook his head. Before coming to Paris, the assistant director, Franck Alella, had told him that they were only reshooting the rain scene and nothing else, so he hadn't prepared anything in advance.

But once he arrived on set, Director Allen informed him that a crucial scene hadn't been shot well and needed to be reshot with him and Marion Cotillard.

Without much preparation, he stood in front of the camera. It was normal for the first take to not be perfect.

However, Director Allen seized the opportunity to mock him, making it feel like he was deliberately making things difficult.

"Do you want me to water it down a bit?" Marion Cotillard joked.

"No need, I can handle it," Link said, flipping through the script.

"Are you sure? Director Allen isn't planning on letting you off easy today," Marion said, adjusting his tie.

"Don't worry, I'm not afraid of an old man. As long as he has the energy, I'll keep up with him."

"Darling, you're so sexy," Marion said, standing on tiptoe to kiss him.

Link leaned down to return the kiss and squeezed her hip.

Not far away, Director Woody Allen was waiting for the two to be ready for the next take, but suddenly he saw them kissing and even squeezing each other's butt in front of the camera.

Anger surged within him. He slammed the script down and shouted, "Action! Start filming! If this one doesn't work, don't blame me for getting angry."

"Scene 12, Shot 8, Take 2, start!" the script supervisor called out.

Link and Marion took their positions and began to get into character. When the cameraman signaled to start, Link looked at Marion with confusion. "What are you saying?"

"We should stay here. This is the beginning of the Belle Époque, the greatest and most beautiful era in the history of Paris," Marion said with a smile, her voice seductive, wearing a white ball gown.

"But what about the twenties? There's the Charleston, the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway... I mean, I prefer that crowd," Link shrugged.

"But that's reality. It's very dull."

"Dull?"

A look of surprise crossed Link's face. With a complex expression, he said, "But that's not my reality. I'm from 2010. Coming to your time is like us going back to 1890."

"Is that true?" Marion asked, astonished.

"Yes. I was trying to escape my reality, thinking about going back to the past, just like you're escaping yours. We're both looking for a golden age. Look at those people over there. For them, the Renaissance is the golden age. They'd rather trade the Belle Époque for a chance to paint alongside Titian and Michelangelo. And people from that era might imagine Kublai Khan's time was even better. I understand now, maybe not completely, but it's made me realize things that used to make me anxious even in my dreams." Link spoke eloquently.

"What dreams?" Marion Cotillard asked.

"I used to have this nightmare where I ran out of azithromycin, and then I went to the dentist and they didn't have Novocaine. You know what I mean? They didn't have any antibiotics."

"What are you talking about?" Marion Cotillard looked at Link, her beautiful face filled with confusion.

In the director's area.

"Close-up!" Director Woody Allen exclaimed, watching Marion's performance through the monitor. "So sexy. A girl like Marion, no matter what era she was born in Paris, would be sought after by celebrities. It's a pity beautiful girls have no taste in men. Jacqueline Roque was like that, and so is Marion Cotillard. They all like bad boys, damn it!"

Director Woody Allen stared at the monitor, his expression turning angry.

Assistant director Franck Alella and second unit director Maroni Ballestra exchanged glances and smiled secretly. They had worked with Allen many times and knew him somewhat.

The Jacqueline Roque that Allen mentioned was Picasso's second wife and also the object of Allen's secret affection.

Woody Allen met Jacqueline Roque when he was studying in Paris in the 1950s and was immediately captivated by her beauty. He even pursued her.

But at the time, he was just an unknown screenwriter, short and plain-looking, with nothing but humor to offer.

Jacqueline Roque rejected him outright and married the eighty-year-old Picasso in 1961. After Picasso's death in 1973, Jacqueline also committed suicide in 1986.

In the movie "Midnight in Paris," there's also the character of Picasso. Perhaps because he disliked Picasso, Woody Allen designed him to look like Hitler - crude, cruel, and heartless.

Marion Cotillard plays Adriana, Picasso's lover, but in the film, she's attracted to the male protagonist and leaves Picasso for him.

In this way, Woody Allen also achieved his revenge on Picasso.

Historically, Picasso had two wives and more than a dozen public mistresses. He didn't even raise his own children, a real scoundrel.

Link was also a playboy, rumored to have been involved with more than ten actresses. Although his fame was far less than Picasso's, after hearing that Link and Marion Cotillard had slept together, Woody Allen transferred his dislike of Picasso onto him.

This also made Link's character very complex. He not only had Link's own characteristics but also elements of Woody Allen, and was also viewed with hostility by Allen as if he were Picasso.

Franck Alella could also sense the difficulty Link was facing in his performance. He looked at the monitor and said, "Link is doing a great job too. He has a deep understanding of the character. It's hard for most people to portray the confusion and complexity of someone who has traveled through time like this."

"Humph!" Woody Allen crossed his arms and said nothing, watching Link's handsome and refined face on the monitor, and listening to him deliver his lines fluently and with emotion. He knew Link was doing well, but the better he did, the more annoyed he felt.

Before joining the production, Link's acting was rough. He had no professional training and no good director to guide him. He was like an unpolished stone.

Over the past month or so, he had constantly instructed Link, instilling many acting techniques through each performance, making him more and more proficient, and even gradually forming a unique acting style of his own.

For an actor, having a personal acting style is one of the signs of mature acting skills.

The fact that Link, at only twenty-one years old, was already showing his acting style not only indicated his talent for acting but also that he, as a director, was doing a good job teaching him.

Originally, he should have been happy about this. But Link was too much of a jerk, shamelessly flirting with girls during filming, treating the set as his hunting ground, and not caring about his feelings as a director at all.

Director Allen naturally wouldn't let him off the hook easily.

"Cut!"

Director Allen called for a pause and reviewed the footage just shot. It was even better than what they filmed last month.

Last month, Link was under too much pressure, and there was always a sense of tension in his performance. At that time, he reluctantly gave a 'pass'.

After a few days of rest, Link returned to the set, and Director Allen thought of shooting it again to see how it turned out. The result was good. Link's performance was more relaxed, with a sense of sudden enlightenment, which was exactly the element needed in this scene.

But Director Allen didn't plan to let Link off so easily. He first praised Marion profusely, then criticized Link for not putting his heart into his performance, saying that if he had, he would have performed even better.

"Link, we need to do your scene again. Be more engaged in your performance. I need you to give it your all. Hurry up!"

Director Allen shouted.

On set, Link was helpless. In the scene just now, the male lead had 227 lines, a total of five pages. He had been memorizing them for days to be able to deliver them according to his own understanding and pace.

He had already performed it twice, and now he was being asked to do it again. It was too much for his mouth.

"Link, you did great. There's no problem. Director Allen is deliberately giving you a hard time."

Marion said.

"I know. The old man is getting on in years. This is his only pleasure in a day. Let's do it his way and do it again. Consider it daily line practice."

Link said nonchalantly.

"Darling, you're so wonderful, so talented, and so magnanimous. What am I going to do? I'm falling more and more in love with you."

Marion leaned into his arms, her eyes filled with adoration.

Link wrapped his arms around her soft waist and lowered his head to kiss her red lips.

Over at Director Allen's side, Director Allen looked up to see how Link's preparation was going, only to find the two embracing and passionately kissing again, in front of dozens of crew members, without any hesitation.

Director Allen angrily slapped the table, about to scold Link again.

Rumble!

Suddenly, thunder roared in the sky, the western sky was covered with dark clouds, and it looked like it was about to rain.

"Change location! Continue filming!"

"Link, stop kissing, prepare for the next scene."

Franck Alella shouted.

But Link and Marion Cotillard continued to kiss, until it started to rain, and the two kissed in the rain, oblivious to everyone else.

Director Allen held an umbrella and watched the two kissing in the rain, the envy and jealousy on his face undisguised. Kissing a sexy French woman in the rain in Paris was the most romantic thing he could imagine.

But he only thought about it in his heart and had never experienced it.

And Link, the scumbag, did it effortlessly. He kissed the most popular French actress on a rainy day in Paris.

"What a jealous bastard!"

Director Allen cursed.

(End of Chapter)