Before "Di Renjie", Tsui Hark made two urban-themed movies-"Looking for People in the Deep Sea" and "Women Are Not Bad", which are quite controversial. Earlier, he had already travelled north to expand the mainland, but because of the frailty of the story and rough special skills of "Shushan", the character modeling and action design of "Seven Swords" have been criticized.
Tsui Hark used his imagination of being unconstrained, and constructed two worlds outside of the parallel world of "Di Renjie": "Tong Tian Fu Tu" and "Into the Night Market". The former is 66 feet tall (about 100 meters), rich in appearance, and full of organs inside, while the latter is ghostly and eerie, and requires a ferry boat to reach the other side of the black market.
Although Di Renjie (played by Andy Lau) is a generation of detectives, from an official to a prime minister, Tsui Hark did not treat him as a stable and weak civil official, but allowed him to excel. Tsui Hark’s explanation for this is: “Many detectives, although smart, they must have helpers around them. For example, where Bao Zheng must be there must be Zhan Zhao, or he can’t go to dangerous places at all. It is natural for Di Renjie to learn martial arts, be able to protect himself, and also have the ability to break into some more dangerous places to find answers."
So, the fight became reasonable, and a movie that only relied on logical reasoning became beautiful. More importantly, let the movie return to Tsui Hark's good at playing atmosphere to create a renewal. There are many exciting battles in "Di Renjie", reminiscent of the classic scenes in Tsui Hark's old works such as "New Dragon Inn", "Unbeaten in the East", and "Children of the Rivers and Lakes", but there is no lack of new ideas.
The scenes of three great battles performed well: One was the battle at Di Renjie’s apartment. Shangguan Jinger (played by Li Bingbing) seduced Di Renjie under Wu Zetian's order. Shangguan Jinger took the initiative to throw and hug Di Renjie with a sword, but it was a crisis. outer. Di Renjie had already seen insight, hugged Shangguan Jing'er, and returned her whip to her. The two started a fierce battle in the rush of dressing, which was very interesting. The second was the battle in the night market. Too dark caused limited vision, and water made movement inconvenient. The visitors were not good but I didn't know the details of the opponent. Wang Lu, a highly skilled black market doctor, wanted to escape the black market in a flat boat, but his opponent kept attacking the boat with wooden stakes from the water. Di Renjie, Pei Donglai (played by Deng Chao), and Shangguan Jing'er took turns to play, slightly lost. The third is the duel between Di Renjie and Shangguan Jing'er within the Promise view. Di Renjie fell into the ecstasy array, causing his world to shake. In the setting of the Promise View, the numerous Buddha statues have become weapons. Shangguan Jing'er will be more prosperous, mobilizing the deer to fight for him, and fight Di Renjie desperately.
The biggest suspense in the film is the self-immolation case. People burn to ashes in broad daylight and in full view. The visual horror and inner fear brought by this kind of scene can bring strong stimulation to the viewer. (Spoiler here, deleted upon request)
In addition to Tsui Hark's return, there is also Andy Lau's return. Before this film, Hua Ge’s own filming principle has been questioned. He is an old man in the rivers and lakes. He "always walks by the river, how can he not wet his feet", he emphasizes friendship, nostalgia, and the overall situation. To play the film. This time, Xu Ke asked Di Renjie to have him. He performed the unusual performance of a generation of detectives. What is more valuable is that he does not have the indiscriminate appearance as before. He looks more like an ordinary person, but he has a genius in character. His sensitivity, Junjie’s playfulness, and his decadence after being transparent about the world.
Li Bingbing is getting more and more vigorous in acting, and he is in good shape when he plays a person. This time she played two roles alone, beautiful, and the more beautiful, under the appearance of beauty, she was no longer empty, and more importantly, she no longer had the effort to lean too hard on the character.
The only flaw in the actor is Wu Zetian, played by Carina Lau. Her diva look attracts people's attention especially with her square eyebrows, and her golden headpiece resembles Gong Li's queen in "Golden Armor". Both of them are strong women who are not angry and prestigious, but the former has a scheming plan to see through the world, while the latter has to be full of domineering. Carina Lau's aura is not inferior to that of Tongtian Buddha, but she can't stand scrutiny in the details of her acting.
Special effects were once a headache for Tsui Hark. This time even with "2012" before and "God of God" behind, the special effects of "Di Renjie" have been cleansed from the criticism and simplicity of "The Legend of Shu". If you are not too harsh, believe in the special effects. It can also make movie fans excited. Disguise is a secret technique in martial arts novels. For the first time, Tsui Hark visualized the process of disguise reduction with special effects, giving martial arts fans a belonging to the imagination of disguise.
Filming of costume films often borrows the past to refer to the present, but the core values of the output are hard to avoid flattery, such as flattering the ruling and opposition parties and praising centralized power. In Di Renjie, Xu Har’s alienation from the court and the exaggeration of chivalrous are still preserved. Although loyalty is loyal, it is loyal to the country and loyal to the public. His recognition of Wu Zetian lies in the fact that she spent eight years in revitalizing the Tang Dynasty, and no one can match the way of governing the country and the strategy of using soldiers.
In addition to the chivalry of the arena, the friendship between people is still the focus of Xu Ke's ink. Di Renjie's plausible feelings with Shangguan Jing'er, Di Renjie's restraint made him understand that this is not a time to talk about love, after all, a woman is more emotional, and Jing'er died because of her gratitude and complicated feelings for this man.
Jing'er was single-minded to Wu Zetian, without suspicion. Before she passed away in Wu Zetian's arms, her conversation with her was moving. Jing'er asked: "Have the queen really loved someone?" Wu Zetian replied: "Yes, but the price was high." Jinger asked, "Is it worth it? Is it worth it?" Wu Zetian replied, "It's worth it!" Wu Zetian said. It's not without true temperament. Although she keeps emphasizing, "If you want to achieve great things, your loved ones can kill", but the relationship between her and Jing'er has surpassed the boundaries of monarchs and ministers. There is sympathy and compassion between women. Such passages penetrate the constraints of temples and rivers and lakes, adding a touch of warmth to the film.
However, if Di Renjie is the protagonist of the movie, I expect this film to be a "remote" detective film, and there may be a certain gap and disappointment. "Kindaichi Youth Incident Murder Book", "Detective Conan", "Holmes", Keigo Higashino and other works have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The overall suspense setting is not enough, and logically unable to step by step, this is the biggest flaw of this film.
Tsui Hark is known for his many ideas and uniqueness. The producer Chen Guofu gave him a story about the detective Di Renjie of the Tang Dynasty who had been pondering for ten years. He asked him to develop the direction of the story and avoid any misfortunes during the discussion. The possibility of protecting Tsui Hark’s unclear narrative logic satisfactorily. There are rumors that Tsui Hark used his own imagination to cut out a director's version, but after the scissorhand Chen Guofu's click operation, it came out and now entered the official version of the Venice Hall.
Knowing and circumventing the director’s weaknesses should be the responsibility of the producer, making the work the icing on the cake, and even more of a story of cooperation. However, this does not mean that "Di Renjie" Chen Guofu's role is greater than that of Tsui Hark, it is still Tsui Hark's work with distinctive features: wanton ideas, unusual characters, sharp editing, wonderful and creative play. Scenes, heroes, shortness of breath and love for children...Which is not Tsui Hark's brand?
This movie has already laid the groundwork for a sequel, and it will become the "Holmes" series that will establish the Asian market. The Chinese titles of "Di Renjie's Empire" and the "007" series of movies are exactly the same. The mystery has already been revealed, but Expect Di Renjie to return like a night knight.
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