Chapter 751: The Bizarre Couple

On May 2, 2010, the first weekend of the North American summer season, Inception held a massive premiere at the Hollywood Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. Duke, the director, attended alongside the starring cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson, Cillian Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, James Franco, and Michael Caine. The spectacular turnout left the fans lining both sides of the red carpet surging with excitement.

The summer season was always the most explosive and fiercely competitive time of year for film, and this year was no exception. From vampires and evil aliens to Cats & Dogs 2, starring that eternally youthful, talking dog, a fierce promotional onslaught continually bombarded the public consciousness.

Just as the fierce battle began, Duke and the Warner Bros. Company jointly presented the highly anticipated Inception. The eerie title, combined with Warner's top-secret hold on the script, veiled the entire film in a uniquely Hollywood mystique amidst everyone's speculation.

As always, Duke maintained a low profile whenever possible, leaving the major red-carpet moments to his starring cast.

Dressed in a black suit, Leonardo DiCaprio chatted and laughed breezily with Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron, who wore a red floral miniskirt. Relaxed and affable, they did their best to accommodate the media and fans, patiently striking poses for photos.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and James Franco walked the red carpet arm-in-arm. Wearing similar black tuxedos, they seemed to be broadcasting to the world that they were the best of bros...

Duke walked briskly down the red carpet with Scarlett Johansson on his arm. Right before entering the interview area, however, they ran into someone entirely unexpected.

"Hey, Duke. Hi, Scar," Brad Pitt greeted them warmly.

Duke and Scarlett both shook his outstretched hand.

"What brings you here?" Duke asked, curious.

"I haven't seen the film yet," Brad Pitt said vaguely. "I wanted to catch it early."

Duke could roughly guess his true intentions, so he didn't press the matter. The three of them chatted as they walked toward the interview area.

Still, Brad Pitt's appearance here did surprise Duke a bit.

This was the first weekend of the summer season. Inception wasn't the only big-budget commercial film hitting theaters; Salt, produced and distributed by Sony Columbia Pictures, was also officially premiering in North America. And the female lead of Salt was none other than Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt's current girlfriend.

Rather than attending the premiere of Salt, Brad Pitt had come here. His intent to cozy up to Duke was obvious.

Duke could figure that much out. As for what he couldn't wrap his head around, he could only chalk it up to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie being a bizarre couple whose dynamic was completely incomprehensible to outsiders.

The gossip surrounding those two wasn't just dinner-table conversation for the American public; it was the focal point of discussion within Hollywood circles. The drama centered on them was simply too vast.

Take this year, for example. At one point, rumors flew that they were about to get married. But just last month, news broke that Angelina Jolie had caught Brad Pitt in bed with the nanny in their own home. Yet the allegedly furious Jolie had done nothing more than fire the nanny.

Soon after, another rumor began circulating among Hollywood's higher-ups. It claimed Brad Pitt had hired a private investigator to dig into Angelina Jolie's past and discovered that her life back in 1999 had been a chaotic mess. She had purportedly shot wild, indecent Videotapes and taken photos of self-harm.

Understanding that Jolie had spent recent years trying to build her public image, and knowing that such a scandal surfacing would deal a massive blow to her and their children, Brad Pitt reportedly dropped 10 million dollars to buy up those old, indecent Videotapes and photos, effectively wiping her slate clean.

Whether the news was true or not remained unknown, but where there was smoke, there was fire. Besides, given enough time, more than ninety percent of Hollywood's grapevine gossip was eventually backed by endless evidence and proven to be fact.

Based on what Duke knew, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pretty much just did their own thing. As long as they didn't catch each other red-handed, they generally ignored everything else...

Of course, their online reputation and standing were quite poor. In reality, they were merely a microcosm of Hollywood. Jennifer Aniston, playing the role of the marriage victim, wasn't much better than Angelina Jolie. This American sweetheart changed boyfriends at an incredibly fast pace. Furthermore, stuck in an awkward, middling position after Friends ended, she inevitably brought up Brad Pitt in every interview, calling him her greatest love.

This was simply Hollywood's most routine hype tactic. The atmosphere in the circle was just like this; no one could really point fingers. For instance, plenty of people knew Demi Moore was bisexual and frequently brought other women in for threesomes with her current husband, Ashton Kutcher, yet absolutely no one found it strange.

Then there was Jolie's actor ex-husband, Billy Bob Thornton, publicly pursuing Jennifer Aniston. Everyone knew it had nothing to do with love...

Leeching off associated celebrities, or leveraging absolutely any element that could be hyped up for self-promotion, was something every Hollywood star—or anyone wanting to become one—did.

In the Hollywood circle, flaunting a romance was just another routine promotional tactic.

However, some people disliked these sorts of promotional methods. Duke knew very well that love was never meant for show; love put on display quickly withered and died. That was practically a law in Hollywood.

Whether he was dating Ivanka Trump or seeing Scarlett Johansson, Duke was just like Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, and the rest: he never minded appearing before the media with his significant other, but he left it at exactly that.

Furthermore, during interviews, even if reporters brought up their relationship, Duke and Scarlett would only discuss film-related topics.

Standing in the interview area, when asked by reporters about the film, Duke obligingly answered.

"The relationship between the waking world and the life within a dream is something I've always found to be a fascinating and inherently contradictory concept," he said. "In a dream, whether it's a state of fear, joy, or idealization, it's actually an uncontrollable construct manufactured by the human brain, mind, and ideology. And the imaginative space generated by dreams is extraordinary. I started considering how to display this limitless energy on the big screen, expressing it through a massive action film from a highly humanistic perspective."

A reporter from the New York Times then turned to Scarlett.

"Miss Johansson, what do you believe is the focal point and core concept of this film?" he asked.

Hearing this question, Duke stepped back half a pace, yielding the spotlight to Scarlett.

She clearly came prepared and answered directly.

"I discussed the roles and the script with the director, and I think Inception's focal point lies in the idea that dreams can be shared," she said. "The dreams are designed to be incredibly real, both visually and sensorially, leaving the dreamer completely unaware that they are inside a dream. Within that subconscious state, a person's deepest and most treasured secrets are laid entirely bare."

Scarlett paused to think for a moment.

"Duke once said that the core concept of this film posits that the birth of an idea is essentially like an incredibly resilient, living parasite," she added. "The traces it leaves behind exist forever somewhere in your brain. If someone could invade your dream space, run rampant using incredibly realistic methods, and even steal an intensely private concept, that angle for storytelling becomes absolutely enthralling."

Even though another reporter threw out a question, Duke and Scarlett stopped answering, walking toward the photo area under the escort of security personnel. Besides, the media reporters had already found an even better interview target: Leonardo DiCaprio had just stepped into the interview area.

Leaving aside Leonardo's fame and box-office draw, the entire emotional drive of this film came from its core figure: the protagonist Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

As the lead actor, Leonardo DiCaprio faced the media cameras.

"Duke's script drew me in," he said. "The story is highly entertaining, showing thrills in a diverse way where anything can happen. But the key is that the protagonist wants to uncover a long-hidden truth and find his way home. The story itself is also incredibly original. No one has ever had even a similar experience, much less could they imagine what it would feel like. All of this made me exceptionally excited, because I get to take part in filming this movie and work with Duke! He's an absolute expert at handling multi-layered storytelling and will make audiences feel a reality that seems entirely within reach."

Standing next to Leonardo, Charlize Theron was another focal point of the media's siege. The Hollywood female superstar fully displayed her elegant and noble side.

"Without a doubt, I've already seen the finished cut," she said. "It's like reading a novel by Haruki Murakami. The movie is full of fantasy, but that world doesn't feel like a bizarre, surreal place; it feels incredibly grounded. The abundant emotional arcs in the film are also an indispensable core. The story is complex, but it will never intentionally confuse people."

The starring actors walked into the interview area one by one. After giving their routine interviews, they made their way to the backdrop plastered with sponsor logos to take group photos. The moment was star-studded. In today's Hollywood, gathering this many stars in a single film was a truly rare feat.

For the film industry, a saying from the country where Duke once lived felt perfectly fitting: even the finest wine goes unsold if hidden down a deep alley. And the film's magnificent, star-studded cast would ensure it was discovered by even more moviegoers!

Standing before the backdrop, the cast and crew took a group photo, followed by photos with the sponsors. It wasn't until nearly half an hour later that Duke finally led the main cast and crew into the Chinese Theater. Inception was about to pull back the curtain on its screening.