King of Hollywood-Chapter 255 - 253 Premiere
Chapter 255: Chapter 253: Premiere
Chapter 255: Chapter 253: Premiere
Though there were many issues, “Resident Evil” nailed its most critical feature: characters’ movement in specific settings, with unknown terrors coming from invisible corners. They had done this well. Additionally, since the character models had low resolution due to the graphics engine, and looked comparatively clean, Adrian didn’t pay too much attention to the models’ lack of differentiation.
Of course, the overly cartoonish environmental setup and the somewhat weak puzzle-solving aspects were definitely in need of change. The success of the previous two “Resident Evil” games was not unrelated to the combination of action, puzzles, and a relatively realistic setting. Character design could be something they could take on, but not these other aspects.
Now that “Resident Evil” was already in the process of being developed into a game, “Tomb Raider” was naturally not going to be left behind, especially since the game company had been acquired by Claude. When Adrian had someone inquire whether they could adapt the novel into a game, he received a pleasant surprise. The Eidos game company had already seen the novel at the beginning of the year and had shown interest in it. However, when they approached the publisher, who had been forewarned by Adrian, they were rejected. And because Eidos was somewhat obscure at the time, Adrian was unaware of this.
Now that Adrian had approached them, it was like sleepyheads meeting their pillows—a perfect match—so the game version of “Tomb Raider” was already under development. But now with Adrian, the “original author,” providing ideas on occasion, the game was bound to be different, especially the character image of Laura.
As for what exactly would be different, that would be discussed later. The most pressing matter was already upon them with the approaching Christmas season.
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Initially, it was a colorful scene with several Jewish people and their children standing around a table, singing a Hebrew song as they watched two candles burning. As the candlelight gradually faded, the people disappeared, leaving only the rough singing echoing. Finally, as the candles went out, the scene turned completely to black and white.
Spielberg truly was one of the most talented storytellers, capturing the audience’s attention with mere simplicity.
Next, as subtitles about Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland appeared, the plight of the Jewish people unfolded on the screen—one scene after another—they were searched, beaten, and arbitrarily mishandled. The black-and-white footage made these scenes appear even more somber and unbearable.
Then, the male protagonist made his entrance. This businessman named Oscar Schindler was tall, handsome, and sociable. He quickly became friendly with the Nazi officers and effortlessly got what he wanted, such as the opportunity to employ Jewish workers without paying them wages.
At this time, Schindler was solely a businessman, focused only on how to seize opportunities to make more money.
“Forgive my boldness, they put up the money, I do the work, and you…?” asked Steen, the accountant chosen to manage the company, after hearing Schindler’s plan. To which Schindler replied, “I’m responsible for the company’s PR; my expertise is in image management, not in the day-to-day work.”
“I don’t know anyone… who would be interested,” Steen said after sitting silently for a while.
Despite his words, there were no better options for the increasingly desperate Jewish people, so Schindler’s factory was eventually established. However, Steen also used this opportunity to try to save his fellow Jews in every way he could. He taught girls who knew nothing about technology how to make cabinets and forged tool-making certificates for a history teacher.
Schindler was aware of all this, but he didn’t give it much thought. He liked wine, women, and living lavishly. As long as Steen kept making him money, he didn’t care about anything else. That was until one morning when some German soldiers stopped the factory’s car, ordering the workers inside to get out and clear the snow from the streets. They dragged out an old man with one arm, laughing and ignoring his cries of “I’m a critical worker,” and shot him dead on the pile of snow.
“He was a press operator, skilled at his work.” When Schindler went to question the Nazi officer and was met with sarcasm referring to him as a “one-armed craftsman,” he responded with a cold demeanor. It should be noted that just recently, this one-armed old man had specifically gone to the factory office to thank Schindler for saving his life. Although Schindler didn’t say anything at the time, he had sternly warned Steen in private, “He knows what he’s doing; don’t start that again.”
Some people are bound to change, but this change was far from enough.
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The living conditions of the Jewish people further deteriorated. Steen, not carrying a work permit, was captured and put on a train whose destination he did not know. Fortunately, Schindler, refusing to cooperate and loath to find another “inferior” Jew as a replacement, threatened the escorting officer, “Very well, sir, your names? I assure you, you will be on the front lines in the East by next week.”
Then, with the assistance of the softening officer, he found Steen just before the train departed.
“How foolish. What would you have done if I were five minutes later?!” Schindler berated Steen, yet the subtle bond between them was thereby revealed.
Steen was undoubtedly lucky. As they left the station, the employees immediately took the large and small personal boxes meant to be loaded on the train and transported them to a nearby warehouse instead. The Jewish people on the train didn’t need these things because the train was taking them straight to Hell, and the dead don’t need luggage.
The Nazis took everything from them, including the gold teeth in their mouths. The bags of teeth poured onto the table, along with the lifeless gaze of the Jewish employees ordered to sort through these items, were shockingly horrific.
A low sob finally emerged in the silent screening room.
A new concentration camp had been erected, and the slaughter was about to begin. Under the leadership of Amon, a demon-like Nazi officer, German soldiers commenced a premeditated massacre of the Jewish people in Krakow.
Without mercy—a German soldier scolded another for shooting, only because the latter’s gunfire had almost hit him; without resistance—the Jews could only hide or commit suicide as quickly as possible by their own means.
In their eyes, these Jewish people were no different from pigs and dogs. The German soldiers did everything they could to drag those hiding out and kill them. Gunshots constantly sounded here, the flash of gunfire continuously flickered, accompanied by the leisurely sound of a piano, and debates whether the music played was Bach’s or Mozart’s.
Schindler witnessed all of this from a hillside. He saw the Jews herded like sheep, killed without resistance by the roadside. He saw a streak of red, a heartbreakingly red color—a little girl in a red coat stumbled among the crowd, managed to run into an empty house, and hid under a bed, but could do nothing except cover her ears amid the gunfire.
The impact of this scene on Schindler was beyond words. Later, when dining with Amon and other Nazi officers, Amon complimented Schindler on his nicely made clothes. Schindler maintained his usual demeanor but replied, “Thank you, I’d like to give you a set, but that tailor may already be dead.”
Schindler began a significant transformation. Although he never admitted it, he indeed actively sought to protect the Jewish people within his means.
“This isn’t power. To have a good reason to kill someone but not to do it—that is power, the Emperor’s power,” Schindler gently told Amon, who was becoming increasingly unrestrained in his actions.
Amon, slightly drunk at the time, seemed to accept this proposition. The next day, after discovering that the Jewish boy cleaning his bathtub had not done a good job, Amon let him go, only to immediately shoot him with his rifle outside.
Schindler could only intervene in other ways, continually bribing and scheming to maintain the factory. Finally, as the scales of war began to tip, the panicked Nazis, to cover up their crimes, exhumed the hastily buried Jewish dead and sent them to the crematorium to be burnt into ashes. For a time, the city skies were filled with this “human ash,” and among the piles of badly decomposed bodies unearthed, Schindler saw that piercing red once again.
In the end, the concentration camp was to be evacuated, and all the Jews were to be disposed of. Schindler once again approached Amon, his factory also relocated but still needing many workers. He could exchange money for people, so Amon asked him for a list.
In a dim room, Steen softly read the names while typing. Schindler paced anxiously—his money would only let him take 1,000 people, meaning those left behind would embark on a journey to death.
“More, more, even more…” he muttered the syllable “more” nearly unconsciously as he clasped his forehead.
“Beyond this list is Hell,” Steen said in a murmur, lifting the completed list.
Even with such efforts, there were complications during the relocation. A group of women boarded the wrong train and were taken to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Fortunately, Schindler arrived in time and exchanged a bag of diamonds for their return. By then, he cared for nothing else—if he could save just one more person, he would.
The days in the relocated factory were supposed to be relatively relaxed—no worries about product quality or the constant threat of someone coming to drag the Jewish away, although German soldiers guarded them.
Finally, the news of Germany’s defeat arrived. The German soldiers were prepared to enact their protocols against the Jews under these circumstances. Schindler stepped in again and fooled them into leaving, and over 1,000 Jewish people ultimately survived.
The overjoyed survivors decided to give Schindler a gift to show their gratitude. A craftsman donated his concealed gold tooth to make a gold ring. But when Schindler received the ring, he was suddenly overcome with grief.
“I could have saved more people,” tears welled up in his eyes, “I could have saved more if… if I had made more money… if I hadn’t been so wasteful… this car… could have been traded for at least 10 people… this badge… for two… I could have done it… but I didn’t…”
He was sobbing uncontrollably by now, accompanied by a mournful violin. Once again, low sobs rose in the heavy screening room, as if in a chain reaction, more sobbing ensued, and sorrow permeated.
(To be continued. For future chapters, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)
