He reconstructed the genre of martial arts movies as we know it in the 1960s.
On July 10, 1970 , Hu Jinquan's movie [Xia Nu] was released in Taiwan.
It has been 48 years this year .
As China's first martial arts film that caused a sensation at the Cannes International Film Festival , [Xia Nu] has become the world's first impression of Chinese films .
The film has changed the crude and comical style of martial arts films in the past , and has attached a strong bookish atmosphere to the martial arts themes .
From the birth to the world, Chinese martial arts took 42 years .
It is not an exaggeration to say that the world of martial arts started from [Xia Nu] .
one.
Martial arts films, from dregs to Chinese labels
Before [Xia Nu] appeared, martial arts was not a commendatory movie vocabulary.
At that time, it was also called the "Goblin Martial Arts Movie" .
It is pure "commercial dross" , and the implicit meaning is often: vulgar and crude.
The intellectual filmmakers at the time were unwilling to get involved.
In 1928 , the star company filmed the film [Fire Burning Red Lotus Temple] , which is regarded as the starting point of the martial arts film .
The audience response was surprisingly good.
Upon seeing this, the star company made 18 sequels within three years and made a lot of money. Seeing this, other film companies also followed suit.
Suddenly set off a wave of martial arts films .
According to statistics, from 1928 to 1931 , there were about 50 companies in Shanghai, shooting about 400 movies , of which more than 250 martial arts movies , accounting for 60% .
The era of martial arts movies worthy of the name.
At that time, Tianyi Company, the predecessor of Hong Kong Shaw Brothers Company , in order to create novel sensory stimulation and increase the box office, specially created the horror scenes of eighteen hells and ten palaces of Hades.
It's a pity that it was made in a hurry, and it was rough and indiscriminate .
The shots of [Tang Huang's Tour to Difu] and [Qianlong's Tour to Jiangnan] are also not unconventional.
The money is enough, but the reputation of martial arts has been ruined almost. Dissatisfied by the public opinion circles.
Many literati directors came forward and criticized:
Gods, gods, ghosts, swordsmen and swords. Unsightly.
Basically qualitative martial arts movies.
However, in that era when martial arts was vulgar , intellectuals would not have thought that martial arts could also capture the character of literati. It can also represent Chinese movies and go abroad.
It was produced by Shaw Brothers , their most disgusting commercial film company .
In 1970, in the 42nd year after the birth of the martial arts film , director Hu Jinquan , who was in the Shaw Brothers , filmed [Xia Nv] .
The story is adapted from "Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio" , Hu Jinquan changed its background to the Ming Dynasty, which he is good at.
Zhongliang’s daughter, Yang Huizhen , took her mother to a small village to avoid disasters in Dongchang.
Encountered Gu Xingzhai , who wrote letters for a living , and both love each other.
After the soldiers rushed to the East Factory, Gu Xingzhai and the two righteous men assisted Huizhen by killing the culprits and avenging him.
This story may seem a bit old-fashioned now, and it is nothing more than a story of a loyal girl, a filial son, and a righteous man against the villain.
But in 1970, it was a pioneering work that combined martial arts genre and humanistic value .
In 1975, [Xia Nu] won the 28th Cannes Film Festival Technology Award . The 42-year history of "cultural dross" in Chinese martial arts films finally came to an end.
Hu Jinquan’s friend said:
[Xia Nv] (Cannes) After the screening, it caused a shock in the European film industry at the time, because no one in Europe at that time had seen the so-called "wuxia film". He reconstructed the genre of martial arts movies as we know it in the 1960s.
two.
A meticulously crafted work based on mad demons
Li An once said:
Every Chinese director wants to make a martial arts movie.
His [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon] is largely influenced by [Xia Nu] Zhongzhulin Opera.
It's a pity that after 30 years, Lee Ang, who has been highly acclaimed in the international film scene, has not been able to surpass the world of martial arts crafted by Hu Jinquan by hand .
This man who pursues perfection has made this world-renowned movie almost frame by frame .
The whole film was shot for four years .
This was almost unimaginable in the Hong Kong film industry, which was extremely pursuing efficiency at the time.
A bamboo play that was imitated many times by later generations was filmed for 25 days . You know this scene is only 10 minutes in total .
In order to render the feeling of emptiness and bleakness to the extreme, Hu Jinquan's requirements for images are almost harsh.
The reed is not high enough, just wait for it to grow taller.
The sun is not in the right position, so the whole group is on standby and waits for the right light.
Maybe the big directors are all perfectionist madmen , and Akira Kurosawa , the Japanese "movie emperor" , is also a person who will wait for the sun.
In order to present better results, Hu Jinquan can say that he did not hesitate to spend his money .
It took nine months to build three antique streets , one hundred old houses, and employ more than 1,200 technicians . Including some of the burned buildings, the cost amounted to 14 million Taiwan dollars .
The scene design in the film has been historically restored in every detail, from the interior decoration, character costumes, and even the price level.
Worthy of Hu Jinquan 's title of "Textual Research Madness" .
In order to ensure the accuracy of the details, I made a special trip to the Palace Museum to find the Ming Dynasty genre paintings for textual research. Even the note in front of the gate of Gu Xingzhai was written by him himself.
These tiny points accumulate a distinctive Hu Jinquan-style martial arts movie.
There are no fancy fights, no nondescript costumes, and some are trivial and veritable historical details .
The cups and bowls, the chairs, the house and the tree in the movie all carry the unique temperature and texture of history .
After 42 years, martial arts movies finally no longer just fight, kill and scream, but slowly present a realistic ancient China, a world of chivalrous people that both you and I are fascinated by.
In 1970, the filming of [Xia Nu] was completed, but after it was released, the box office was extremely unsatisfactory .
Coupled with the contradiction of too long filming time and over-investment, Hu Dao and the investors had a very unhappy relationship. Sha Rongfeng , the chief executive of the federal business , broke off contact with him even more angrily.
In 1975, Hu Jinquan edited a three-hour version and sent it to the Cannes Film Festival , but Federal Pictures refused to pay any more.
Hu Jinquan had to go there at his own expense .
The film finally won the prize, and the European copyright was sold to make up for the loss during the filming.
Hu Jinquan is like a knight in the film industry .
Not chasing fame and fortune, not in harmony with the world. With full of knowledge and feelings, they have created dreams of martial arts .
With [Xia Nu] alone , Hu Jinquan is enough to be written into film history.
Today, 48 years have passed, and no one can beat him.
It’s no wonder that Zhang Beihai , the original author of the movie [Evil does not suppress justice] , said:
The most suitable adaptation of "Xia Ying" is neither Jiang Wen nor Li An, but Hu Jinquan.
No wonder director Xu Anhua said:
Director Hu is not tall, but his shadow is very long.
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Silly cat
The article was first published on the WeChat public account "Film Breaking Things"
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