There is a scene in the film "Secret Meeting" that makes people even more disappointed with the media (fortunately, he has been out of this business for a long time): the war reporter Pi played by Steve Buscemi Under the coercion of Sienna Miller's soap opera actress Katya, El finally revealed one of his secrets - the most brutal story in a war report was made up by himself, for the sake of It's about creating gimmicks, accomplishing tasks, and attracting readers.
Media hoaxes have become almost an integral part of American culture these days, and they are often mocked in the feature-length animated series "The Simpsons." Every media practitioner knows it's the quickest and most effective way to gain fame, prestige, and industry status. way. In the "Warring States Period" of the media, the so-called "exclusive exposure" is the "treasure of the township", and many practitioners do not even have the sense of shame and do whatever it takes to expose the news.
From fake news to fabricated biographies, financial interests are behind it all. In the publishing world, booksellers are also desperate to find a story that sells and turn it into a bestseller, and cultural scams abound. Of all these hoaxes, none is more striking than the biographical conundrum between writer Clifford Irwin and billionaire Howard Hughes, recreated in the film The Hoax.
The Scam, also known as The Tycoon Pseudo-Biography, is based on the best-selling autobiographical novel of the same name, based on the true story of author Clifford Irwin who falsely claimed to have been authorized by Hughes to write his memoir and deceive the publishing world and the public.
In 1971, there was a big event in the American publishing industry when McGraw-Hill International Publishing Company announced that it had obtained the distribution rights of the million-dollar memoirs of Howard Hughes. The reason why Americans are so excited about this memoir is because Howard Hughes is so famous. In the United States, he is as well-known as Washington and Lincoln. Hughes is a rich man with an international reputation and a net worth of US$2.5 billion. He is involved in a wide range of investment and business fields, covering oil, film, aerospace, etc. World record, this person's life can be described as vigorous and magnificent, full of adventure, excitement, legend and good luck, Americans regard him as an idol and a hero. It was only in his later years that this big man lived in seclusion for more than ten years without showing his face, and he himself paid great attention to the protection of personal privacy, which made every curious American want to find out about the private life of this mysterious rich man.
The author who dared to write a memoir for the eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes is not a famous person, but a little writer who is unknown. Hughes escaped from the world, and concocted the hoax with his assistant Dick Suskande and the painter's wife. In fact, not a single word of this Howard Hughes memoir is reliable, but Irwin was able to trick the publishing company into believing that the memoir was not only entrusted by Hughes himself, but Irwin also had a lot of memoir matters. conducted a separate interview with Hughes. After that (actually 10 years later), Hughes finally debunked Erwin's hoax in public, for which Erwin paid 18 months in prison. After his release from prison, he wrote this autobiographical novel called "The Deception" (which was then bought by the film company for the adaptation rights).
Richard Gere's figure is out of shape, but fortunately, his acting skills are good, and he portrays Irwin, a guy who is open-minded, expressive, and good at camping, to life: from ambition to "underappreciated talent", from desire for fame to inspiration Now, from a small test of a lie to a nonsense, from capturing the curiosity of the public to finally developing it into a deceptive scam... Every step of the change, Richard Gere explained that there are noses and eyes, and there are Quite psychological excess and foreshadowing. In order to make the lie look like the truth, Irwin often weaves the process and mentality of experiencing other events into the lie, so that it sounds like it is true, and his interview recording imitating Hughes' Texas accent is also quite convincing, more What's more, the power of attorney he wrote by imitating Hughes' handwriting has reached the point where it is so fake that even the identification experts have been fooled. This person is really talented.
Of course, the publishing house is not a vegetarian either. In order to verify the truth of what Irwin said, they went to great lengths and tried every step of the way. However, Irwin is indeed extremely intelligent, superior in skill, quick in response, and quick in thinking. He can always find a way. Get yourself out of danger. As the lies continued to expand, the talented him became more and more mired in the quagmire of big talk, more lies, more tricks and bragging rights, as well as those criminal acts-stealing confidential documents, forging letters, Disguise and disguise, all of which seemed to form a vicious circle, making Erwin gradually confused and uneasy. When he habitually deceived and hid the fact of his rendezvous with his lover from his wife, and when he told his assistants about the nightmare, he had sunk into the stories and atmosphere made up by himself. Can't tell which is fictional and which is real. In that imaginary kidnapping scene, Richard Gere presented Alvin's fearful expression and complex mentality in a well-organized manner, thus thoroughly revealing that this person has completely fallen into the nightmare he created and cannot extricate himself. Unless the scam is exposed. Of course, this is just the Alvin presented by screenwriter William Wheeler, director Lasse Hallstrom and actor Richard Gere. As for the person who thanked him at the time, the public cannot know for sure.
When Alvin in the film realizes the power and money deal between Hughes and the president, he is both excited and confused. He feels the power that exists outside the government. Although he has never met Hughes, he can Feeling the powerful power of Hughes, Hughes and his consortium are the power that manipulates the overall situation behind the scenes (it is inevitable to think of part of the plot of the American TV series "Prison Break"). End credits: White House staff confirmed that the relationship between Hughes and Nixon revealed in Irwin's biography led directly to the Watergate scandal.
At the time of the film's release, "Con artist writer" Irwin, who was in his 70s, said he had nothing to do with the script of "The Hustle" and that he was upset about his role in the film. In reality, Irwin also has a hobby, he likes to pretend to be a celebrity, and the celebrities he spoofed include film master Stanley Kubrick. During the filming of Kubrick's posthumous work "Eyes Wide Shut", Irwin falsely claimed that he was Kubrick in London, swaggered the market, and made a fortune. The film "Becoming Kubrick" was shot based on this incident. , was released in Europe in 2005.
Rarely does it make sense to the US media's positive and negative views on the same film. "The Scam" broke this normality. This time, the US media did not show themselves too much, nor did they have a sharp and outrageous magnifying attitude. Instead, they appeared objective. Calm, like, square one, the film is Richard Gere's best work in recent years (Box Office Magazine). On the other side, Richard Gere gave Clifford Irwin a flawed charisma (New York Magazine). Counterpoint: As a film, the story isn't fake enough; as a true story, it's not real enough (Cinema Viewpoint).
( http://nicolew.blog.hexun.com/14247393_d.html )
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