Chapter 104: Screening

After female reporter Hannah walked into the *Run Luo La Run* screening hall, she found that there were quite a lot of people, and there were not many empty seats left. She looked at it and found that most of them were young people.

After she sat down, she heard two young people talking in a low voice:

"I don't know what a movie like a game means? Is it a live-action game movie like *Mortal Kombat*?"

"I don't know, I hope it won't be a garbage movie like *Super Mario*!"

As a reporter responsible for tracking movies, Hannah also knows what these two are talking about.

*Mortal Kombat* is the live-action version of the game *Mortal Kombat*. A 20 million investment exchanged for 1.2 billion global box office, and it also won public recognition. It is the only successful case of game adaptation into a live-action movie so far. And *Super Mario* is known as the worst game live-action movie made with the hottest game IP!

Just when she was still thinking about what the relationship between this movie and the game was, the lights in the screening hall went out, and everyone stopped talking and looked at the big screen involuntarily.

The screen lit up. In the darkness, a few poems emerged:

We should not stop exploring,

All our explorations,

Will eventually return to our starting point,

And understand that place for the first time.

— T. S. Eliot

Many viewers have heard of Eliot's name. He is a famous British modern literary giant and poet, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

Of course, even those who haven't heard of it can roughly read the meaning of this poem, guessing that the director must have his intention in putting this poem at the beginning.

A moment later, this poem disappeared, the screen fell into darkness again, but a sound of ticking clocks sounded in the impression of the screening hall, making people involuntarily produce a feeling of time urgency and entering a countdown.

Look again, a pendulum entered the screen, swinging back and forth, and made a creaking mechanical swinging sound. After it swung continuously for two rounds, the creaking sound slowed down, and it fixed in the center of the screen. At this time, everyone saw clearly that this pendulum was a sculpture monster head.

"This is the monster that devours time in Greek mythology!" The young man next to Hannah couldn't help but whisper in surprise.

With the dynamic music, the lens moved up along the monster pendulum, and saw the whole picture of the clock, the hands of which were constantly moving, making a ticking clock sound. The next moment, the mechanism creaked, the carved monster opened its mouth, and the lens entered the big mouth.

Up to now, even the movie title hasn't come out, but it has already made all the audience feel the unique place of this film, and many young people's expectations have been further raised!

The next moment, crowds of people walking fast appeared in the screen, and the lens seemed to be moving fast in the busy crowd following the dynamic music, almost everyone looked hazy.

A magnetic narration sounded: "Human beings may be the most mysterious species on Earth, a mystery that can never find an answer... Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going..."

And following his words, several clear portraits appeared one after another, Zhang Jiahui in a Manchester United jersey, a woman holding a baby, and finally Luo Jiayin wearing a security uniform.

Only Luo Jiayin opened his mouth with a smile: "The ball is round, the game has to be played for 90 minutes, this is unquestionable. Everything else is purely theoretical! Start now!"

After speaking, he picked up a football from under him and kicked it into the sky. The lens seemed to grow on the football, followed the football and pulled to a high place. Looking down from the height, only the crowd just now looked like ants, forming a few words, "Run Luo La Run"!

Then the ball fell into a tunnel, and the picture became an animation. The cartoon girl with red hair, blue shirt and green pants kept running in a tunnel, and kept jumping over or breaking the obstacles that blocked her. Every time an introduction word like "Director — Wu Yuchen" came out, it would be smashed by the cartoon girl jumping up and raising her fist, just like clearing a level in a game!

This unprecedented unique opening has already made some young viewers in the screening hall involuntarily make a "cool!" sound.

Although Hannah is a reporter, she is also a young person, and she was involuntarily attracted by the novel, maverick lens and storytelling method of this movie. The style of this audiovisual language is really too much for the taste of the new generation of young people!

In the animation tunnel, the cartoon girl finally encountered a ferocious monster flower, opened her mouth and was swallowed into it. The picture switched back to reality again, and the perspective looked down from a high place, not directly switched, but a continuous accelerated long lens. In 3 seconds, from the whole city in the air, to the block, the lens entered from the window, and then to the ringing phone in Luo La's house. The movie officially started!

The viewers in the screening hall had no time to marvel, and were immediately attracted by the phone conversation between Luo La and her boyfriend Manni.

Fu Dalong complained crying on the phone. It was all because Luo La didn't ride a motorcycle to pick him up in time. He could only take the subway, and then after seeing the patrol police on the subway, he instinctively got up and fled like a mouse seeing a cat. As a result, he dropped the 500,000 obtained from the diamond transaction on the subway, and could only watch the homeless man next to him, Ni Dahong, pick up the bag containing the money and show an unbelievable surprise smile through the subway window.

The audience also understood that within 20 minutes, the two must get 500,000, otherwise the gang boss would definitely kill the boyfriend. Fu Dalong decided that 20 minutes later, that is, at 12 o'clock sharp, if there was no money, he would go to rob a large supermarket in the city center. Thus, the female lead Luo La had to launch a 20-minute fundraising operation to save her boyfriend.

Hannah watched very excitedly. This movie is really anti-traditional. The boyfriend is cowardly and complains about others and keeps crying and forcing, while the girlfriend is responsible for saving everything. Compared with the Hollywood movies in the past where only the big male lead saves the vase female, this is too fucking cool for her!

Of course, Hannah knows that it is not just these. The series of fast lens movements and high-frequency different editing techniques and compositions adopted by the director are also the reasons why she can be substituted. But she can't care about analyzing these carefully now, and just wants to invest in the plot.

Luo La searched all possibilities in her mind. Only her father, who is an executive at the bank, could have so much money, so she pushed the door and started running!

Next is like an adventure. Different angle lenses recorded the process of Luo La running, different scenes, meeting different people, different directions. The combination of side and front and then cooperation with overlapping painting extended the time, making the audience feel that it was Luo La running desperately without stopping.

First time.

When Luo La went downstairs, she met a bad guy pulling a ferocious dog. At the corner, she bumped into a woman pushing a baby and was scolded. A series of flashback photos predicted the woman's future. The woman drank alcohol and quarreled with her husband to divorce, was deprived of custody, and finally stole someone else's child in the park and was caught.

She met a young man in a Manchester United jersey selling bicycles, and a series of photos also showed that he was hospitalized after being beaten for stealing a car, and then married a nurse.

A middle-aged man driving a car had a car accident with another car because he watched her running, and had a dispute.

A bank female employee would commit suicide after surgery for a car accident in the future.

Finally, she arrived at the bank, but encountered the scene of her executive father talking about an affair with his lover. After being sternly refused by her father, she also discovered the truth that she was not a biological daughter, and cried loudly under the support of the security guard.

But Luo La, who thought of her boyfriend, couldn't care about sadness and continued to run. She met an ambulance again, which almost hit a large piece of glass being carried on the road ahead.

Finally, when Luo La arrived at the supermarket, Fu Dalong had already walked into the supermarket and fired a shot to rob. With Luo La's help, the two grabbed the money and fled, but were surrounded by police, and when Fu Dalong threw the money bag, a new policeman opened fire in panic, hitting Luo La in the chest.

Luo La's consciousness entered a red space, which was a fragment of her and her boyfriend lying on the bed with bare chests talking about love. This red is not only the red of desire, but also makes people produce a kind of illusory peace, and is shrouded in a kind of death atmosphere, making us understand that this unreal and illusory plot is a phantom or memory after death, so as to thirst for another possibility. 【104-4

Consequently, Li Xiaoran, having exited the red space, murmured, "I don't want to, I don't want to leave!"

The camera cut to the red money bag still flying in the air, constantly switching between it and the red telephone receiver that had rung initially. As the music accelerated, when both fell simultaneously, Li Xiaoran finally said, "Stop!"

The scene returned to the beginning; Li Xiaoran pushed the door open and sprinted out once again!

Some audience members hadn't reacted yet, but many young viewers had already shouted out:

"This is a save reload! The game has reloaded! That's so cool!"

A commotion inevitably broke out in the theater, but no one took their eyes off the big screen.

The second attempt began.

While going downstairs, Luo La still encountered the bad guy walking the vicious dog, but this time he stuck out his foot and tripped her. Luo La, pressed for time, couldn't dwell on it; she just rubbed her leg and continued running.

Due to the delay from being tripped, she encountered the woman pushing the baby carriage a few seconds later than before. Through flashback photos, the audience clearly saw the woman's future change. This time, she went to a lottery shop, won the grand prize, and lived a happy life with her husband and children after becoming wealthy!

Meanwhile, Zhang Jiahui, who was riding a bicycle, avoided the beating this time, but because of that, he didn't meet the nurse and find love; instead, he became a homeless man and eventually died in a solo piece.

Yes, the audience realized everything had changed. The fates of everyone Luo La met on the road had shifted, all because she was tripped by the bad guy at the start and was delayed by a few seconds!

"Wow!"

"Is this the Butterfly Effect?!"

Now, no one failed to understand what the film was expressing. All the viewers stared intently at the big screen, wanting to see if Luo La could succeed after this reload and how much influence she would have on others.

This time, Luo La jumped over the car hood, still attracting the attention of the middle-aged man driving, causing an accident. But unlike the last time, she hit the front of the car; this time, she hit the rear.

The bank clerk's fate changed. In the photo, she didn't get into a car accident in the future; instead, she hooked up with the young man at the bank's front desk. The two even played a game of dominance, with the clerk as the queen and the young man being whipped.

Inside the bank, Luo La, having been slapped, angrily grabbed the security guard's gun, took her father hostage to rob the bank, and ran off again with the 500,000.

On the road, Luo La encountered an ambulance and asked the driver for a ride, but was refused. The next moment, the driver, not looking at the road ahead, crashed into a large pane of glass being moved at an intersection.

Luo La didn't hesitate and kept running. Just before Fu Dalong was about to step into the supermarket, she called out to him from around the corner. Both walked toward each other with smiles on their faces.

Just when the audience thought they had the money and wondered what would happen next, Fu Dalong was struck by a car while crossing the street.

This car was the very ambulance Luo La had just encountered. Due to the accident earlier, the driver was in a rush, which led to him hitting Fu Dalong.

Li Xiaoran threw the money bag and lunged toward Fu Dalong. Fu Dalong, covered in blood, had his consciousness enter the blood-red space again. They were still talking on the bed, continuing their previous conversation.

After Fu Dalong's consciousness exited the red space, he watched the money bag flying high in the air fall, and the game reloaded again!

*Swish*, the camera cut back to the beginning. Li Xiaoran pushed the door open and ran; the third attempt began!

"WTF!"

"Can you reload even if Manny dies?"

"It's because the mission wasn't completed. The initial mission is to successfully save Manny!"

Ignoring the audience's whispered discussions, the third attempt continued.

This time, Luo La jumped directly over the vicious dog's head, giving the bad guy no chance.

On the same path, she encountered the woman with the baby carriage again, but this time she didn't bump into it. The woman didn't curse her, and her fate changed again; she met a church volunteer ahead, joined the organization, and became a devout believer.

Zhang Jiahui, riding his bike, changed his route after being bumped by Li Xiaoran and met the homeless man Ni Dahong at a burger shop, selling him the stolen bicycle.

When she reached the middle-aged man at the intersection, Luo La stopped and blocked his car, preventing the accident, before sprinting off again.

However, she didn't know that this man was the very client her bank executive father was waiting for. Since the man didn't have an accident, he met the father smoothly. By the time Luo La arrived at the bank, she only saw her father leaving in the man's car.

On the other side, Fu Dalong happened to run into Ni Dahong, who was riding the bike. As they chased each other across the street, they caused a traffic disturbance, leading to two cars colliding. The camera peered inside; sitting there were the middle-aged man from the previous two accidents and the bank executive father, both unconscious.

Luo La rushed into a nearby casino and, relying on her high-pitched scream, won 500,000.

"Is this Luo La's skill? It seems to have appeared twice already. Each time it shatters glass and interrupts others' thoughts."

"Who knows? It's cool anyway!"

While Luo La won the 500,000, Fu Dalong caught up to Ni Dahong and retrieved his lost money, while the homeless man Ni Dahong picked up the gun Fu Dalong had discarded and walked into the bank across the street.

Luo La encountered the ambulance again. This time, she didn't ask; as if by instinct, she climbed in from the back and saw the security guard Luo Jiaying, who had been shot and was being treated. Realizing this was her biological father, Luo La held his hand tightly, and to the nurse's astonishment, Luo Jiaying's heartbeat miraculously stabilized.

At the city center intersection, Luo La got off the ambulance and looked around, but didn't see her boyfriend Manny. Just as she was getting anxious, a black Mercedes stopped nearby. Fu Dalong stepped out of the mob boss's car with a smile, hugged him, and closed the door.

He walked to Li Xiaoran's side with a relaxed smile, hugged her, and said, "Don't worry, everything is fine now. Let's go!"

Li Xiaoran was pulled along, dazed. Fu Dalong asked, "What's in the bag?"

Li Xiaoran, while walking, finally looked up with a bright smile on her face, and the image froze there.

At this point, the film ended, the credits appeared again, and the upbeat music changed. All the audience members couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Watching the movie had been a non-stop experience; everyone's attention had been following the protagonist Luo La, while also paying attention to the changes in details she caused, which led to different fates for different people. Now, they could finally relax!