Driven to Madness (2)
Sion Lee wore the mask of Alex as he slowly lit a cigarette.
"Phew..."
It was a dark night. Under the dim glow of a streetlamp, a man looked around anxiously.
Unable to fully swallow the harsh cigarette smoke, Alex exhaled it in a slow puff. He kept looking around, as if acutely conscious of his own reflection even when no one was watching.
In the cold Chicago darkness, the amber light of the streetlamp diffused into a hazy blur. Alex, cigarette clamped between his teeth, slowly began to move.
The camera tracking him started to follow. The desolate landscape of the old industrial factory area was captured in the frame with a poignant, melancholic beauty.
The camera, gliding smoothly on its rails, detached just as Alex rounded a corner. James Parker, the cinematographer, skillfully pulled the lever to release the camera and immediately pursued him on foot.
By the time he captured Alex using the handheld technique, the character had already run to the very end of the alley.
"Cut!" Daniel Summit shouted.
Alex stopped in his tracks, still deeply immersed in the character, waiting for the next shot.
Under the director's instructions, the crew moved quickly. They set up past the corner of the narrow alley where Alex had stopped, and on cue, Alex ran out again.
Shooting several times like this, the team segmented Alex's movements exactly as the director had envisioned.
"Let's do one more take."
At the director's request, they shot the same scene multiple times. Sion, who had to sprint a considerable distance starting from the rehearsals, was panting heavily at some point.
However, he never broke character. When the director gave the cue, he regulated his breathing like a professional swimmer and ran again.
He was truly letting himself be pushed to the absolute limit.
Incredible.
James Parker, watching the performance through the viewfinder, was once again amazed by Sion's professionalism.
It was now late November, the final stretch of filming. Since filmmaking is a collaborative effort of experts from various fields, power dynamics naturally shifted based on each person's status. Of course, the director usually had the ultimate authority on set, but there were always actors who could make even the director walk on eggshells.
Because it's a massive financial investment.
No one could easily predict the outcome of a movie until it was released. Therefore, when opinions clashed, the logic of capital ultimately won. James had seen countless actors refuse a director's unreasonable demands for extra takes.
And on this set, the absolute authority was actually Sion Lee. Considering his status in Hollywood and his box office draw, it wouldn't have been surprising if he expressed annoyance at these grueling, repetitive shoots and snapped, "Hey, let's just wrap it up and move on!"
If he did, the director would have no choice but to look depressed and complain to the crew behind his back later. But right now, Sion...
"Director, give me a second. I just need to catch my breath."
"Yes, Sion. Let me know when you're ready."
Anyone could see he was genuinely poured into this shoot.
"Should I try slipping here?"
Moreover, he understood the director's vision and actively suggested even more physically demanding ideas.
...He was always an actor of this caliber.
Daniel also trusted Sion and let him act freely. Whenever there was an ambiguous part, he gathered all the staff, smoked a cigarette, and discussed it. Even after finishing a shoot, he gathered people and took a relaxed break.
Was he always this kind of director?
Absolutely not. Daniel was a rookie director, a self-proclaimed "cinephile" style. He had a very firm vision of his own world, but he was clumsy at expressing it, so the atmosphere on set had been quite stiff in the beginning. But now, there was a strong sense that they were uniting well under his relaxed leadership.
After finishing the last scene of the day, everyone gathered.
"Wow, that was amazing!"
"Great job, everyone. Especially Sion! You were truly the best!"
The other staff members, charmed by Sion's passionate attitude, showered him with praise.
Sion, wearing a coat over his vinyl jacket due to the cold, caught his breath and playfully deflected the compliments.
"Whew, I think I'll wake up tomorrow having lost even more weight."
He said this while glancing at the director.
Daniel was checking the footage they had just shot, looking at the camera James was operating. One of his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Good, good..."
The scenes he had only envisioned in his head were perfectly captured on camera. The subtle harmony of the streetlights and the towering factory chimneys. Alex's tense expression running between them was vivid.
James, looking at it with him, thought it was an excellent result even though he had shot it himself, and spoke up.
"We'll have to check with the monitor speakers, but we might need to ADR some of the breathing sounds later."
"We should. But seriously, the mise-en-scène is perfect. Thank you, James."
"It's all thanks to your directing. And Sion's acting, which supports it so well."
"Exactly. With Sion anchoring this beautiful scene, the narrative feels complete."
"We're going to Sundance, right?"
"Eh, I don't know. Will we be able to?"
"Come on, dream big, Danny."
Sion approached the two and draped an arm over Daniel's shoulder.
"Though, it might be tough for us to get invited to Sundance."
"Why is that, Mr. Lee?" James asked, intrigued.
"Because I'm not very 'Sundance,'" Sion replied with a shrug.
In the back, a soundman, who did on-set work as a side job, tilted his head.
"Is that so? Come to think of it, what does Sundance even mean?"
"I think I can explain that," Daniel Summit said, revealing his cinephile side for the first time in a while.
The "Sundance" in the Sundance Film Festival, which was celebrating its sixth year, originated from the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. At the time, Robert Redford, the actor who played the Sundance Kid, established the Sundance Institute for emerging filmmakers at a resort called Sundance Resort, which became the origin of the Sundance Film Festival.
"The word Sundance itself comes from the Native American 'Sun Dance.' A ceremony representing renewal, creation, and new beginnings. The Sundance Film Festival aligns with the spirit of filmmakers pursuing art outside the commercial Hollywood system. That's why independent films created with creative freedom are the main targets for awards. For reference, last year's Grand Jury Prize went to Chameleon Street, which was released the year before. It was a monumental work that sharply satirized society through the narratives of identity and race."
"..."
"..."
"Wow, that was really interesting trivia. Thanks."
Sion Lee played an innocent 18-year-old boy for the first time in a while. Unaware that his explanation was a bit too detailed, Daniel continued.
"So, when you say you're not 'Sundance,' it's because you're an actor who grew up and gained popularity within the Hollywood system, right?"
"Spot on, Danny."
"Still, I think you're more than qualified to be invited. No matter what kind of actor Sion was in the Hollywood film industry, the project we're shooting right now is a definitive indie film. Even though we received small-scale investment, the indie spirit is definitely alive."
"He's right, Director."
Grinning widely, James patted Sion on the shoulder.
"Our lead actor is such a wonderful actor that he works without complaint despite the low pay and grueling shoots. Through this, he's showing us a 'new artistic perspective' that couldn't be seen in Hollywood. If anything, I think he's the perfect fit for the direction Sundance pursues!"
"I'll buy the beers for tonight's round."
"Haha! Great, great! I'll buy the pizza! ...Uh, do we still have some production budget left?"
"Well, it's a bit tight after paying to repair the light bulb we broke during the shoot last time."
"Haha! Then it's one slice of pizza per person!"
James's light joke warmed up the atmosphere again. But even amidst the laughter, Daniel was deep in thought.
He says he can't because he's not "Sundance."
It felt as if those who wanted to break free from the standardized mold of film had instead become trapped by it.
"..."
Seeing Daniel's stiff expression, Sion gently spoke to him.
"Danny, you okay? Did we put too much pressure on you?"
"Ah, I'm fine. Since we're at the end of filming, I've just had a lot on my mind."
"It's that time of the process. You have to start thinking about editing soon. ...Are you doing it alone?"
"Fortunately, the studio said they would support me."
Hearing this, Sion nodded in relief.
No need to worry about missing the editing deadline then.
The Sundance Film Festival. Contrary to what he had said earlier, he absolutely intended to get invited by any means necessary.
Swing in Chicago was a film about Alex, an ordinary factory worker, who accidentally gets involved in a "drop-off crime" rampant in Chicago.
The director, Daniel Summit, had publicly declared multiple times whenever he met people that he wanted to convey two things through this work.
"I wanted to speak about the reality faced by the blue-collar working class in Chicago, and individual desire."
Living hand-to-mouth, a life where even that is uncertain. And a human being slowly breaking down due to that fear.
In the beginning of the film, Alex was, frankly, a "pathetic human being." He had no money, yet he puffed on cigarettes he couldn't even smoke properly every day, and when work was over, he went home to chug beer.
But he changes once he gets his hands on the "drop bag."
Harassed by the police and pursued by various criminals, Alex tries his best to deliver the bag to the designated location. Unlike his life as a factory worker, his story of fighting desperately to "survive" delivers various ironies to the audience.
Sion felt that this side of Alex resembled himself.
After his face was ruined, Sion felt there was no hope left in life. He tried to stand up and face life somehow, but it was never an easy path, and even after his return, he broke down emotionally multiple times. Then, after experiencing the massive event of regression, he was living each newly given day to the fullest to avoid going down the same path.
It was now the final day of the month-long shoot of Swing in Chicago.
The camera focused on a man lying in bed. Alex, sleeping with his mouth open and his belly sticking out, rolled over as the alarm rang.
"Ugh, uuuugh..."
He reached out to turn off the alarm. Instead, he knocked the alarm clock off the nightstand. Trying to endure it by burying his face in the pillow, Alex finally sat up with a "Fuck."
"I fucking hate going to work..."
Wearing only a pair of boxers and a white undershirt, Alex walked to the bathroom. He washed his face as if just splashing water, then checked the razor. Seeing it rusted, he frowned deeply and just let it go.
Then, sitting at the dining table where the cold air drafts, he sloppily ate cereal. While doing so, he casually talked to someone.
"Heather. It's freezing today. Can I just not go to work?"
There was no response.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going, I'm going. I know. I know the rent is overdue this month. Fuck, why did Mom sign a lease on such a uselessly expensive and incredibly run-down apartment? She died after living here for only a few months anyway."
He finished his cereal and sloppily grabbed his clothes.
"Even if I go, those bastards are just going to bitch about me not doing my job. Clicking buttons on some hydraulic press or whatever only barely earns me enough money for beer at the end of the week... Ugh, I'm dying."
With a face full of discontent, he struggled to shove his feet into a pair of crumpled jeans.
Tired and worn out, he was careless about everything—a character that could exist anywhere in daily life, but seemed a bit lacking to be the protagonist of a movie.
Finally fully dressed, Alex put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.
"Cough! Cough! Hmph!"
Inhaling wrong, he coughed repeatedly, then looked to the side as if embarrassed. And he approached and kissed. A woman on a poster hanging on the door.
With a smile as if looking at his beloved, he said:
"I'm off, my love."
With that, Alex left the house.
"Cut!"
At the director's shout, the crew exhales the breath they had been holding.
Wow, that's insane. Seriously.
He has his own image, and he goes this far?
It was practically a one-man show by the actor Sion Lee. In a single scene, he firmly engraved who the character "Alex" is and what he does. And at the very end, he revealed a slight sense of eccentricity, different from ordinary people, raising interest.
"Great! Sion! Let's take a short break!"
Daniel glued himself to the camera, planning the next take based on that performance. Returning to the room, Sion took off his clothes and calmly composed his emotions.
The mainstream of Hollywood cinema since the 1980s had been special protagonists or protagonists placed in special situations. Like movies where an American macho performs heroic deeds. But this movie showed a completely different side. An exploration and collapse of the inner self, and a depiction of the world through it. It perfectly fit the criteria of an indie film as evaluated by the public.
Except for the fact that I'm the lead actor.
A "brat" actor and a monster created by the commercialism pursued by "Hollywood" stepping into an indie film festival, which was the complete opposite? If one were a cinephile, they might even find this fact offensive, bordering on "sacrilege."
Which is exactly why I have to do it.
That was why Sion wanted to showcase this work at the Sundance Film Festival first. It was already a highly anticipated event, and if word got out that he was participating, it would cause an absolute frenzy in the public and the film industry.
That's exactly what I want.
Above all, he had confidence. After countless takes built on his passion, this film had evolved far beyond the original script.