[Chapter 351: Preparations]
[T/N: After Link left, Vivian Chow and Michelle Reis stopped by to visit Feihong Yu to make sure she was alright after spending the night with him.
They encouraged Feihong Yu to exercise more and eat hearty meals to get her strength up, reassuring her that in a couple of months she would adjust. They told her to call if she felt overwhelmed -- after all, they were there for support. Feihong Yu shyly agreed.]
---
Link returned to the office, getting back to work on his new film.
Before filming The English Patient, he organized four script meetings, inviting several lead actors to discuss the script and their characters.
The cast included Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Colin Firth, Willem Dafoe, and Indian actor Aamir Khan.
Among them, Juliette Binoche was French, Willem Dafoe was American, and Aamir Khan was Indian, while the others hailed from the UK.
"Aamir, how's your English practice coming along?" Link asked as they convened for the script meeting.
The English Patient was adapted from a novel with the same name, depicting the romance between several young men and women during World War II, transcending time, life, and race.
In the film, Aamir Khan's character, Kip, was a British-Indian soldier and the boyfriend of the female lead, Hannah. They fall in love while at a monastery.
While writing the script, Link considered changing Kip's ethnicity to French or British, but the original author, Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje, objected.
Ondaatje, born in Sri Lanka, had mixed heritage, including Dutch, Sinhalese, and Indian ancestry. He moved to Britain with his parents as a teenager, later attending university in Canada.
The character of Kip was a projection of Ondaatje's own identity, using the relationship between Kip and Hannah to explore racial issues.
Link had to abandon his idea of changing Kip's skin color and instead sought an Indian actor for the role.
Indian film producers enthusiastically recommended over sixty Indian actors, and Link selected five based on familiarity for auditions, with Aamir Khan ultimately standing out.
At 30, Aamir Khan had been in the industry since the age of 8, appearing in over forty films. Currently an emerging star in India, he had future notable works like Dangal, 3 Idiots, and Lagaan.
The hitch was that although Aamir spoke English, he didn't have a British accent. To help him with his spoken English, the production team hired two English teachers to tutor him, requiring him to correct his accent before filming began.
...
"Director Link, I'm still practicing," Aamir said awkwardly as he read a few lines of Kip's dialogue.
"Not bad -- a little improvement. Keep it up! I hope your accent gets better and better," Link replied with a smile.
"Okay, Director Link," Aamir scratched his face, appearing quite shy.
"Juliette, you'll be interacting the most with Aamir. Help him with script practice when you can," Link asked.
"No problem, Director Link," Juliette Binoche responded with a smile.
...
Link continued discussing the script with the actors, aiming to deepen their understanding of the story's themes and emotional nuances so they could immerse themselves in their roles.
To a director, having actors embody their characters was the easiest and most effective way of filming, saving time and money.
For the actors, this was also a promising way to perform. The greater their connection with their characters -- the better they understood them -- the deeper their immersion would be, and any resulting psychological issues were not that severe.
Actors were typically paid substantial fees for films, often earning hundreds of thousands or even millions for each project, and if they performed well, there was a chance for awards. The psychological challenges paled in comparison to the risks in many other careers, and this minor sacrifice was something professional actors were more than willing to make.
...
[T/N: Feihong Yu joined as a production assistant, helping arrange actors and coordinating their participation in the film's preparation.
During moments of downtime, Link tried to get intimate with her but she mentioned that it was inconvenient in the office; each time afterward, she had to return to work, and after exerting herself with him, walking a few more steps made her legs tremble, hindering her ability to do anything else.
Since Feihong Yu preferred not to get intimate at work, he agreed to restrain himself around the office going forward.]
...
After more than two months of preparation, the production of The English Patient officially began.
Under Link's direction, props, set designers, and art team members started heading to various filming locations for pre-production setup. The three assistant directors and production assistants followed his instructions for shooting on location in North Africa, Tunisia, Florence, Italy, and Marseille, France.
Meanwhile, Link remained busy in Los Angeles handling other matters, including box office summaries for summer releases and planning for fall and winter film releases, as well as projects slated for filming next year.
Additionally, Hachi: A Dog's Tale, after a year's filming, wrapped last week. As the film's producer, screenwriter, and editor, Link was also tasked with finalizing the editing for the movie to send off to the production department for post-production.
While editing Hachi: A Dog's Tale, Ovitz called again, saying he had found a way to collaborate and wanted to discuss it with Link in person.
*****
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