Even the most outstanding directors cannot completely avoid external influences. Murphy's willpower was strong, and during the scriptwriting phase, everything went smoothly. However, once the team gathered again at the Venice warehouse set and formal preparations began, the situation Gal Gadot had feared inevitably arose.
Murphy's special relationship with Ross made him want to minimize the chances of the film failing or becoming a flop. As a result, he began considering every aspect of the project.
When someone overthinks, self-doubt often creeps in. Shortly after 20th Century Fox's first installment of funds arrived, Murphy started doubting the initial filming approach he had decided on after much contemplation.
With these thoughts, he spent more time deliberating. For two whole days, he locked himself in his office, reconsidering the film's theme.
Just like "City of Chaos" reflected fear and ideological conflict, Murphy's primary focus before filming was determining the movie's theme. For this one, it was the impact of the social environment on individuals and personal choices.
Was this theme suitable for Ross? Being abused by a Catholic priest was a direct cause of his downfall, but Ross wasn't the only one abused. What about the others?
Over those two days, countless thoughts flashed through Murphy's mind, but he couldn't make a decision until he remembered the lessons on biographical films he had taken while studying across the Pacific.
"Yes, Ross is an exception," he thought. Recalling the many stereotypical biographical films and TV shows he had seen, Murphy finally discarded his doubts and reaffirmed his initial idea. "But this is a personal biographical film about Ross. Why care about anyone else?"
No matter the biographical film, it inevitably involves artistic processing. However, the degree of this processing must be well controlled, and Murphy had plenty of negative examples to learn from.
Murphy then began recalling biographical films and movies he had watched across the Pacific, as well as some theoretical issues. These could help him stay clear-headed and avoid making basic mistakes.
Contemporary films almost always depict characters in relation to time and space, and biographical films are among the easiest and hardest to make. They are easy because, watching some documentaries, it feels like watching a chronological Discovery Channel history; dull to the point of extracting no emotion. The difficulty lies in the creator's need to maintain a relatively neutral stance, avoiding value judgments while making the story exciting.
This is a tall order for directors, especially when the protagonist is a notorious figure.
Murphy's education taught him that making a biographical film about someone like Ross required either thoroughly demonizing him or completely glorifying him. However, Murphy knew Ross had a good side, having helped him, Robert Downey Jr., and others in prison. Ignoring this would be dishonest.
Yet, only highlighting Ross's good side and making him seem perfect would be lowbrow, childish, and shameless.
Reaffirming his initial theme and idea, Murphy recalled the theories he had learned and the typical issues that led to the failure of biographical films, as discussed by his directors.
During his time studying film, it was hard to find an outstanding biographical film in the industry across the Pacific.
Why was it so hard to produce good biographical films there? Murphy remembered many analyses attributing it to the influence of living individuals or their descendants, making it hard for directors to maintain an objective perspective.
But his mentor believed this was an excuse for the films' own deficiencies. There had been many disputes between biographical film directors and the original figures in world film history.
In 1941, 25-year-old Orson Welles released his debut film, "Citizen Kane," which was seen as a thinly veiled portrayal of media tycoon Hearst. Hearst, unhappy with his depiction, tried to block the film's release. He used his newspapers to attack Hollywood and bought up copies of the film to destroy them, making it hard for theaters to show "Citizen Kane."
Despite the obstacles, Welles did not give in and released the film. Predictably, it bombed at the box office.
Today, "Citizen Kane" is considered one of the greatest films ever made, despite its initial box office failure. It tops the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films.
Murphy's mentor analyzed that "Citizen Kane" succeeded because Welles chose a controversial figure for his biographical film. Although Hearst was a media tycoon who fabricated news to gain attention, Welles did not rush to make a one-sided value judgment. Instead, he portrayed Hearst through the eyes of five people who knew him, creating a multifaceted, deep character.
In contrast, many biographical films from across the Pacific often portrayed heroes or great figures with clear value judgments—good people were extremely good, bad people were extremely bad—failing to capture the complexity of the characters.
Murphy knew that many factors, often unspeakable, constrained directors. This was especially true for biographical films, which faced numerous limitations.
Biographical films there were difficult to make due to many restrictions. Directors couldn't fabricate events as Hollywood biopics sometimes do, nor could they document everything accurately, resulting in films that praised the positive while glossing over or avoiding the negative. This "perfect person" method created characters that were flawless to the point of being unrealistic symbols.
Consequently, these films lost audiences and had no lasting impact.
Such films only portrayed the positive, never the negative, with characters lacking depth and internal conflicts. The lack of significant external conflicts made the plots flat, far from excellent or even passable films.
Some directors across the Pacific were aware of these issues but had to find other solutions due to various constraints. To compensate for characters' lack of depth, they often placed them in national or ethnic conflicts, using major conflicts to replace personal ones, resulting in overly idealized portrayals.
Such films built pedestals for their characters, far from depicting real people with genuine emotions.
Murphy, compared to these directors, faced a much more relaxed production environment, free from political constraints.
Additionally, Murphy wouldn't face trouble from the likes of Jordan Belfort, as Ross wouldn't sue him or the crew for any fictionalized elements in the film.
These factors, though seemingly minor, often became significant obstacles in making biographical films. Murphy's situation, free from such concerns, was a significant advantage for him and the entire crew.
After three days of seclusion, Murphy resolved his conceptual issues and convened a meeting with all department heads, officially starting the preparation for "Diego Ross."
Even though the Stanton crew had joined, casting suitable actors was still necessary. For instance, they needed to find a suitable actor to play the bald African American friend of Ross, someone who wasn't difficult to work with and didn't have a fragile ego.
The crew also planned to film on location in Los Angeles, bringing Murphy back to his old stomping grounds.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter]