FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
PETER is checking his phone notifications.
PETER (V.O.): Here's a question I like: What is your favourite "sleeper" film (ie little to no critical acclaim/box success) and why do you love it?
Peter puts his hand on cheek.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Two movie closing scenes have been with me since the late 1960s.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One is the cliffhanger scene of the Italian Job (1969).
DAYDREAM SEQUENCE OF PETER'S WATCHING THE FILM (1969)
A. On screen, a gang unloads the gold they robbed from several Minis into a coach.
B. As the coach is meandering the long and winding mountainous road from Italy into Switzerland, the driver loses control.
C.We see the back of the coach is left teetering over a cliff and the gold slides towards the rear door.
D. As a gang member attempts to reach the gold, it slips further. Other gang members are deeply worried.
E. Then, the gang member said to them: I've a great idea". And right after that, we see: The End.
F. Peter hangs on to his seat, not willing to leave the cinema.
END DAYDREAM SEQUENCE.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But the Italian Job has become a classic. It wasn't a "sleeper" film.
Pausing.
Act 2
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For the other one, I don't even know its English title. Its Chinese title is: 縱横四海, meaning "Across the Seas".
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It describes the various adventures of a team of diving enthusiasts, from the beginning to nearly the end.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The only twist towards the end is that a team member has died due to a misadventure.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The closing scene is that other team members bid their last farewell to the deceased by leaving her in the deep sea.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It paints a very sad and depressing scene. The tragic ending isn't expected.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Looking back, the film is structurally different. It has just the Act I (the Beginning) and Act II (the Challenge), which isn't explicit; and the movie ends at the dark-knight-of-the-soul scene. It hasn't got Act III (the resolution).
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The three-Act structure has been discerned as the hallmark of all successful commercial films.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That explains why the movie has little to no critical acclaim/box success.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can find movies with the cliffhanger scenes including the Italian Job (1969). But there's no mention of the movie I've in mind.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't think I love the movie, but it has enduring resonance in me.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm just interested to know if the movie is simply an unstructured one, or an intentional artistic presentation.
Peter puts his hand on cheek.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's no way of knowing. Has the movie been dismissed by all, except me?
Peter looks out of the window.
Act 3
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.): In 1991, there's a Hong Kong action/crime movie bearing the same name. The movie hasn't got anything to do with the sea, but it has become a classic.
Peter types his answer on his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I answer the question to disclose my undisclosed feeling for the first time.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A work will only have deep resonance if the kind of emotion it can generate is already in those who appreciate it.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Living things first began in the sea and we all belong to it.
Peter sees on his phone screen an upvote to his answer.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What's the upvoter?
Peter taps the upvoter icon.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, the upvoter is a content editor. My work has some resonance.
Peter looks content.
FADE OUT.
THE END

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