The last scene featured Yuanyuan suddenly opening her eyes in the hospital bed, staring intently at the wall, and then suddenly turning her head as if gazing into a certain space.
But for the audience, what they saw was Yuanyuan’s eyes meeting theirs, filled with a deathly stillness and helplessness, yet tinged with a violently emotional mood.
He Jinxia couldn’t help but sharpen her gaze, impressed by the actor’s handling of the scene.
It was hard to imagine such a difficult emotional expression appearing in a novice actor, especially if she wasn’t mistaken, this actor hadn’t officially entered the entertainment circle but was merely a student from Huaxia Drama Academy.
Duan Yu’s voice quietly emerged beside her ear, "She came to us wanting to play this role because we offered a high payment. She was short on money at the time and wanted to act without caring whether the film would be released or not.
She didn’t have an entertainment agency backing her, and when we evaluated her acting skills, her unexpectedly strong burst of hysterics in public was impressive, alas—"
Duan Yu suddenly sighed softly, and He Jinxia quietly asked, "What’s the matter, isn’t picking up a powerful performer like her something good?"
Another director said, "It’s not that it’s bad, but the most basic requirement for an actor is emotional control. She can only play intense, conflict-filled scenes; she’s not good at subtle, transitional ones.
Even a simple, calm line could be delivered by her with a shout, and originally, to make her perform a scene well, we went through a lot of trouble.
Unfortunately, the final performance wasn’t up to par, and in the end, we had to change the character’s persona from a naive, cheerful, and sunny individual to a proud, domineering little princess."
He Jinxia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, unsure how to console them.
After a thought, she said, "Perhaps she is a talent-based actor. Although she falls short in other areas, many established actors also struggle with emotional explosions.
For a newcomer, she has already done quite well, considering that emotional outbreaks are the most infectious. Even if her earlier performance is mediocre, just for the climactic burst at the end of the story, I think it’s enough to balance out the good and the bad."
They continued discussing the actor’s performance, while on the big screen, the story about "Yuanyuan," the main character, also reached its end.
Late at night, the hospital was still brightly lit, yet sparsely populated, with only a few nurses on patrol.
Occasionally some, being lazy, simply did not walk back and forth in the hospital corridors but sat at the counter, nodding off.
Yuanyuan pushed the door open and walked out, her steps floating like a ghost. Her body was already thin, and the mental breakdown of the past few days had made her face even thinner, making her eyes appear even larger.
Her eyes used to be bright, but now they were veiled with a layer of grey mist.
The audience watched Yuanyuan’s retreating figure, their vision shifting as they followed her movements.
He Jinxia furrowed her brows, feeling very familiar with this scene, reminiscent of her days experiencing a character role last year in a secluded little hospital. This main character reminded her very much of that patient.
What was different was that the patient was just starting, while the movie’s main character had already given birth.
In just half an hour, the film had portrayed a woman’s entire earlier life, and at the very end, all they saw was Yuanyuan ascending to the top floor.
The door to the rooftop seemed to be locked, but when Yuanyuan got there, she flipped the latch, and the audience realized that the lock was merely latched but not locked. Follow current novels on novel·fire·net
It appeared to be locked but actually wasn’t, logically, Yuanyuan opened the door to the rooftop.
The rooftop had not been visited for a long time, a layer of iron gray covered the ground near the door, which creaked open, and Yuanyuan, against the bright moonlight and the cold wind, slowly walked towards the deserted rooftop.
The blue and white striped hospital gown fluttered in the wind, accentuating her thin frame, as Yuanyuan walked to a corner. Suddenly, she turned and looked behind her.
What happened next remained unknown to the audience, as the scene on the big screen had already changed, introducing the second female lead to the viewers.
He Jinxia frowned slightly, her eyes reflecting a trace of interest, this kind of handling... was it going to be a reveal saved for the end of the film?
It was unclear if only the first female lead was treated this way or if the next two were the same.
It had to be said, He Jinxia’s interest was thoroughly piqued; she wanted to see how Yuanyuan’s story ended, whether she jumped off the rooftop or was rescued.
According to the tastes of Huaxia’s audience, most movies usually have a comedic ending, but "Eighteen Years Old Sky" took the artistic and niche route, with content mostly filled with satire and social criticism, not necessarily following mainstream tastes.
Moreover, in the cinema, it was an acknowledged standard — tragic endings often struck deeper chords in people’s hearts.
Looking over the history of award-winning films, the majority invariably bore profound and substantial content, mostly tragic.
He Jinxia was curious about what approach Duan Yu and others would choose?
When filming, she had only received the script for her role and had not seen the scripts of other characters but was informed that the character she played was the last to appear.
According to the script she had received, the ending for her character "Luo Mei" was neither good nor bad; she initially thought it would end with her character but watching the director’s handling, it seemed the revelations would only be unveiled towards the ending.
The second character was named Dong Chunzhen, in contrast to the meaning of her name, Chunzhen’s temperament was bad, and she was a very different kind of female lead.
The typical portrayal of a female lead is kind, beautiful, resilient, and unyielding, while her character was entirely the opposite: petty, selfish, lacking ambition...
He Jinxia was surprised that Duan Yu and the others had chosen someone like her as the second female lead.
The second story was entirely different from the first; Chunzhen always bullied classmates at school, and one day, a girl she had consistently bullied couldn’t take it anymore and found a thug outside school to deal with her.
After a series of twists, just like the first female lead, Chunzhen also accidentally got pregnant, but surprisingly, their reactions to being pregnant were opposite.
The first female lead was loved by everyone at school, eventually envied by a classmate, who lured her into a compromising situation.
Upon learning of her pregnancy, she became frantic, hysterical, and incredulous, her first reaction was to have an abortion, showing she completely didn’t care about the child.
But Chunzhen, known at school for her relentless mischief and bad temperament, had one unexpected trait; she wouldn’t let her bad temper dominate her, even at her most hateful towards someone, she only went as far as gathering a crowd outside school to slap her.