Occasionally flipping through old films, it is inevitable that there will be unexpected surprises.
Today I want to give you a film that I personally like very much, which has been nominated for an Oscar, and its popularity in that year is even indistinguishable from "The Fifth Element", and even more popular than "Guess the Train".
"The Six Heroes of the Light Pig"
In 1997, six unemployed steelworkers from Sheffield, England, actually set off a "striptease" boom around the world, even alarming the Oscars...
In the 1990s, British films were once popular in Hollywood, and in a decade, 11 British or Anglo-American co-production films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, including comedies such as Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).
There is also no shortage of realistic films set in working-class life, such as My Left Foot (1989), or The Crying Game (1992) and In the Name of the Father (1993), which touch on the sharp themes of Northern Ireland.
In 1998, "Six Heroes of Light Pigs", which was unexpectedly nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, is a comedy with a working class theme that touches on acute issues.
It is said to be an accident because no one was willing to invest in the first place.
Yeah, about six unemployed old men going to striptease, who believes it? Who wants to see it? The biggest star is robert Carlisle, who just starred in "Guess the Train".
Channel 4, which has always supported British films, dismissed the idea of investing after paying for the script, because they were more optimistic about "Brassed Off!", which also featured unemployed workers, and decided to bet on it.
In the end, Fox took out $3.5 million as a shooting fund, but according to the lead actor Robert Carlisle, the whole shooting was actually very chaotic, and Fox was extremely dissatisfied with the first cut of the film, and planned to release DVDs and tapes directly to reduce the loss, but fortunately the producers rushed to request re-editing and reshoot (the original material of the film was too short) to get through.
The film was first released on a small scale in the United States on August 13, 1997, but the response from critics was so great that half a month later, British audiences expressed more intense love for the comedy that tells the story of six unemployed workers at the Sheffield Steel Mills.
The film grossed £7.63 million in its first week of release (mel Gibson and Julia Roberts' new film Chain Conspiracy was only £1.35 million) and miraculously maintained a four-week title, beating Air Force One and My Best Friend's Wedding, respectively.
He then regained the title in weeks six, nine, tenth, twelfth and thirteenth weeks, and after three months in the top ten, he grossed $52 million ($84.64 million, counting Ireland and Malta) and $257 million worldwide (the tenth-grossing film in the world that year).
The contrast may be even clearer: "The Fifth Element," released in the same year as "The Six Heroes of the Light Pig," grossed $263 million worldwide, while it invested $90 million. Paul Webster, then chairman of Channel 4, later regretted it because the revenue of "Six Heroes of light pigs" was about ten times that of "Playing a New Hope".
"You can only hope that the same mistake is not made twice." Also shocked was the actor Robert Carlisle himself, who "hated" the movie, which was more popular than Guess the Train.
The last shot of "Light Pig Six Heroes" is frozen in the moment when the back of the six "dancing men" is completely naked, but are they really naked on the front?
According to director Peter Catanniu, it was indeed completely naked at the time, and in order to convince the six actors to be truly naked and photogenic, he promised that the scene would only be filmed once.
After repeated rehearsals, in order to ensure a success, the film's choreographer, Suzanne Dali-Grande, "lay" in the crowd in front of the stage, shouting instructions to the actors from time to time during filming... According to Cataneau, in order to ease the tension, some of the actors actually drank a lot of whiskey to strengthen their courage, and there were about 400 extras on the scene at that time...
Although Fox promised to invest, explaining to Fox executives why the title was "The Full Monty" cost screenwriter Simon Beaufoy a lot of brain cells, such as "Why is there no character called Monty in the film?" " and other questions.
In fact, in British slang, "The Full Monty" means "all, all". In the film, when the protagonist Gates and others finish posting the poster, they will casually boast to the female neighbors about the performance of "The Full Monty", that is, the meaning of "all stripped". Therefore, the film is also translated as "one off to the end".
"Light Pig Six Heroes" uses several classic retro pop songs, such as "YouSexy Thing" by the hot chocolate band, "You Can Leave Your Hat On" by the famous British singer Tom Jones, and "Rock & Roll, Part 2" by British gorgeous rock singer Gary Gretter, six of whom are intoxicated with "Hot Stuff" in the job center, which belongs to the classic passage of the film.
The song was a hit in 1980 by Donna Charmaine, known as the "Disco Queen", and later changed it to a team song by Premier League team Arsenal, which shows its popularity. However, this classic clip was originally to be cut out, because some people thought it was "too surreal", but fortunately the producer tried to keep it.
As a popular blockbuster movie known to everyone in the UK that year, how influential is "Six Heroes of Light Pigs"?
On November 13, 1998, prince Charles attended a "Six Heroes of Light Pigs" party during a visit to Sheffield on his 50th birthday, and recreated the "Hot Stuff" clip with Hugo Spear, who played Guy in the film. ”
As for the prince's dancing style, Spiel commented: "He asked me how to dance, but he danced very skillfully, as if he had practiced at home..."
The reason why "Light Pig Six Heroes" sold well is that it really touched the global audience: first of all, it is very comedic, the six protagonists are fat and thin, the old ugly is ugly, the loose collapse, and even wants to make money by dancing striptease;
Secondly, it is emotional and moving, and slowly you will find that these six are not funny, although they are failed fathers, failed husbands or failed people, but they have not given up their efforts to prove their worth;
Again, it's realistic and light,around the way, but the character's strong Sheffield accent and plenty of British slang are a bit overwhelming to American audiences.
Screenwriter Simon Beaufort recalled: "We had a screening at the Sundance Film Festival, and a lot of fans came out and said, 'Oh my God, I love this film!'" I can't understand what these people are saying, but just love it! We were so sad and happy when we heard it. ”
It is said that in order to let the audience understand the slang in the film, some theaters in the United States have also specially printed a movie guide booklet, but this does not prevent American audiences from contributing to the box office.
In the United States, "The Six Heroes of the Light Pig" is more popular than "Mr. Bean", to which Beaufory said: "This shows that the story of the characters in the film can really resonate." "Six Heroes of the Light Pig" is about human nature, telling the story of the plight of a person when he loses his job, pride and dignity. ”