1986, shane black, a 23-year-old young man who had just left UCLA, finished his first play, which was bought by joel silver, a Hollywood producer, within a week. Although Joel Silver was not a popular figure at that time, his later works made him a gold medal producer of Hollywood action movies, including 1988' s Die Hard Rowen Rowen and 199 1' s The Matrix. At that time, Joel Silver, who took a fancy to Shane Black's script, immediately found the director richard donner, and an epoch-making classic action film Lethal Weapon was released. The film starring mel gibson and danny glover combines humorous and violent action scenes. It not only achieved great success at the box office, but also created a new type of action film-"partner action film". Lethal Weapon has made four films successively, which influenced a generation of filmmakers and was imitated by countless similar films.
Searwar said: "Shane's plays have a unique voice. Whether he respects or denies the genre tradition, his films always have novel characters, innovative actions and classic dialogues. His writing style is as entertaining as a movie presented on the big screen. "
Shane Black was inspired by his childhood obsession with detective stories. Shane has read hundreds of detective stories since childhood. In order to save money on books, Shane sometimes even doesn't eat for three days. With the accumulation of rich materials and ideas, Shane finally gained an unshakable position as an avant-garde action film screenwriter with his concentrated investment in thrift when he was young. Followed by considerable income, the script of "The Ultimate Warrior" became the highest record of Hollywood movie script with a reward of 1990 USD. A few years later, the script income of Secret Agent Wildflower has reached $4 million.
In the late 1990s, Shane began to give up and concentrate on creating his first film "Kiss, Hit". When talking about his own evaluation of the script, Shane said that there has never been a work that combines his decades of detective story experience with what he has always wanted to try hard. This film shows his great respect for the detective stories he was keen on when he was a child.
The movie story takes place in contemporary Los Angeles. Blake said, "So far, there are few movies about private detectives in Los Angeles, so I am trying to conceive a movie that is both serious and suspenseful and fresh and interesting." Blake skillfully blended the black elements of the partner film with the classic film, and handed the final script to Sever. In Blake's view, although there are many producers who have worked together, Searwar likes this theme best and understands the intention best.
About roles
When talking about Harry's role, Black said: "He is a guy who has always had bad luck, but he is still a ridiculous optimist. He never really learned from his failure and never looked back when he hit the south wall, but in spite of this, he never lost his enthusiasm. Even in a sinister place like Los Angeles, he is still unaware. "
Searwar said: "We need an actor who can show all the characteristics of the role, such as recklessness, optimism and so on. Robert Downey Jr., who exudes childish charm, is very suitable for the role of Harry. " Blake believes that Downey endows the character with many weaknesses and sensitivities, and his gestures not only show his unique charm, but also seize the subtle comedy opportunity.
"Harry is the one who woke up under the neon lights," Downey said. "He and I have some of the same nightlife experiences. Like many of us, Harry doesn't know what to do, but he is bent on doing good and wants to do the right thing. "
Fang Kimmer plays private investigator Guy Perry in the film, and producer Susan Levin says kilmer's performance is excellent. Although he didn't play this role for a long time, fans who are familiar with kilmer should know that his early performance in comedy is remarkable. It is no exaggeration to say that kilmer has been waiting for the role of comedy for a long time, and he has been looking for a suitable comedy for many years. But the rule in Hollywood is that if you want to be in a comedy, you must be in a similar work recently, otherwise nothing will happen.
Kilmer not only likes Blake's plays very much, but also is very happy to cooperate with producer Seval for the first time. He said, "As a filmmaker who loves movies, Joe pays great attention to details. Many successful producers have their own specialties, and Joe is a generalist. He has the taste and wisdom of Hollywood ancestors. "
About shooting
In order to make Los Angeles in the film reflect the real feeling, director Blake invited Michael Barrett, the photography director of CSI, and Aaron Osborne, the production designer of Missing Persons, to create this film. Blake showed Barrett and Osborne many classic film noir of 1960s, including paul newman's Hellscream and Lee Marvin's treading on thin ice. Osborne said: "Shane knows exactly what style and style he wants." He doesn't want to romanticize Los Angeles, but wants Los Angeles to be as real as the stories and characters in the movie. "
Blake and Osborne were inspired by the famous illustrator Robert McGuinness's covers for many detective novels in 1960s. At the request of Blake and Osborne, McGuinness drew the covers for Johnny Gowther's novels in the film himself.
McGuinness's works played a key role in the visual style of this film. For example, in Harry's hotel room, the art department hung a huge opal art painting on the wall to emphasize the black theme of the film. In addition, photography director Barrett also got inspiration from McGuinness's works and used many black frames, such as seeing someone smoking through his arm. In order to further enhance the black style of contemporary films, Blake and Barrett also strive to make color films show black and white characteristics. Although every scene in the film was shot with color film, in the post-production, the technicians reduced the color saturation of the picture, and as a result, although the film pictures were all color, they were not bright, thus adding a rough texture.
The film was filmed all over downtown Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, from the iconic Silver Lake District, MacArthur Park and Long Beach, to the shabby alleys, and then to the luxurious sunset boulevard, from which it is not difficult to find the epitome of contemporary urban life in Los Angeles.