America 1987

Chapter 73 Accident

As Stefan Zweig mentioned in the preface to "The Stars of Humanity," no artist can maintain artistic creation 24 hours a day, and the most illustrious and immortal masterpieces are often born from rare moments of inspiration.

History is the same—this greatest poet and actor of all ages, whom Goethe reverently called "God's secret workshop," will not continue to create.

This workshop is filled with countless trivial, mundane tasks; just like in the art world, truly sublime and unforgettable moments are rare.

"So you're saying my movie is a bit dull and boring, David?" Cameron asked, sounding somewhat annoyed.

This is an abandoned nuclear power plant in Gaffney, South Carolina, USA, which is also the main filming location for "The Abyss".

After visiting Quentin, David flew to Cameron's place to check on the progress of his filming.

Filming is progressing well, not too far behind expectations, but the atmosphere on set is a bit too oppressive and dull.

"No, no, it's just that the film set is a bit too dull. I heard the crew members have a lot of complaints about you, is that true?"

David looked at the other person with some curiosity.

His facial skin was a bit pale, which suggests that Cameron must have personally gone into the water to direct the filming. Spending a long time in the water can indeed cause this kind of symptom.

Cameron waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's all normal during filming. Underwater work is tough, and it's understandable that the actors and crew would be under a lot of pressure and might grumble at me behind my back."

It seems he has a good sense of self-awareness as a "tyrant on set," and David admires his mentality.

He had just been on the verge of death two days ago, yet he recovered so quickly. He's truly a genius born for film.

Yes, that's right. Two days ago, during an underwater filming session, Cameron was overlooked by a safety diver, resulting in him experiencing oxygen deprivation at a depth of approximately 90 meters.

After the oxygen alarm failed, the pressure regulator handed to him by the safety diver at the last moment was damaged and could not produce air. Cameron had to knock out the safety diver and swim back to the surface to save his life.

Considering his behavior on set during this period, David had reason to suspect that the safety diver might have deliberately handed him a broken regulator in an attempt to kill him. He glanced at Cameron but kept the speculation to himself. After all, the victim hadn't said anything, so he didn't need to meddle.

He watched the movie "The Abyss" in its entirety before his time travel. To be honest, it was indeed a dull film with a very slow pace, which was very challenging for the audience's patience. However, the film itself was not a bad movie. The dialogue was sophisticated, and the characters' emotions were very delicate. It was a film that made people both love and hate it, just like Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight".

Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" maintained the high level of critical acclaim of his two predecessors, "Inglourious Basterds" and "Django Unchained," but its commercial box office performance was far inferior to his predecessors.

Eight riddle-solving characters are playing Werewolf in a room, suspicious of each other, guessing each other's moves, and exchanging cryptic remarks. This narrative style is very unfriendly to the average viewer—you have to concentrate intensely to catch the key information from the lengthy dialogue in order to keep up with the pace.

Actually, there are many movies like this that put the main characters in one room, and there are also some that can cater to the average viewer in terms of watchability. The domestic spy film "The Message" is a prime example.

Unfortunately, Quentin Tarantino continued his talkative style, making the characters' dialogues seem overly trivial and lengthy. David thought to himself as he left Cameron's hotel room.

Because the core filming location was an abandoned nuclear power plant, the entire filming period lasted for six months, and underwater filming was required every day.

To reduce commuting and allow for flexible filming schedules, the crew stayed at a hotel in a town near the filming location.

He suddenly felt the urge to urinate, so he went into the toilet at the end of the corridor. After closing the door, he had just unbuckled his belt to urinate when someone in the next stall started banging on the partition.

"Are you a woman?" a strange woman's voice came from behind.

Yes, this is a unisex restroom with two stalls. Just close the door latch when you come in.

So David wasn't too surprised to hear a woman's voice at this time.

"It's a man, what's wrong?"

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantoneo, well, that's too long, let's just call her Mary.

Mary is the female lead in the movie "The Abyss," and she's been having a terrible time lately.

The prolonged soaking in cold water weakened her both physically and mentally. Yesterday, she even left the film set due to an emotional breakdown, and unexpectedly, she encountered this kind of thing today.

I got up to use the toilet at night, but due to sudden joint swelling and muscle spasms, I couldn't stand up. I had no choice but to wait and see if any other women would come to use the toilet at night. However, I waited for a long time but didn't hear the toilet door open.

Finally, someone came in, and she mustered up her courage to ask. It was a man, and judging from his voice, he seemed to be a man she didn't know very well.

She tugged at her hair in frustration, unsure how to respond.

Do you need some tissues?

"No, no," Mary quickly replied when she saw the stack of toilet paper handed to her from below, "I just... I just squatted for too long and my legs are a little numb. Could you come and help me?"

Actually, she originally wanted to ask the other person to go out and call a woman to help her, but when she saw the other person's long, fair, and bony hand handing over the paper, she inexplicably changed her approach.

After a moment of silence, a "Okay" came from the other end.

David truly didn't expect to encounter such a good thing while using the restroom. How could he not have noticed or anticipated the subtle pauses in the other person's tone and the fact that it was a request made under normal circumstances?

So after seeing what the other person looked like, he took action without hesitation.

"Your joints have been irritated by the cold. After getting out of the water, remember to quickly move to a warm environment, dry yourself off immediately, and change into dry clothes."

A voice that was both strange and familiar came from the back of Mary's neck. Mary felt a warm, damp sensation on the back of her neck. "Otherwise, you'll easily get arthritis if you stay like this for too long."

Unable to resist the tingling sensation any longer, she rolled over, looked at the other person's face, and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" he asked, fondling his own softness. "Aren't I the one who helped you out of the bathroom and into your room last night?"

Mary swatted away the other person's mischievous hand and said in a slightly reproachful tone, "Then why are you here?"

"Where did it happen? In your warm bed and your passionate embrace?" David scratched his head, making a guilty expression. "Maybe it's because Elizabeth, your beauty is too tempting, and I couldn't control myself for a moment."

"You know me?" Mary asked in surprise, temporarily ignoring the large hand that was squeezing her buttocks.