After watching more HK movies from that period, watching more works by Director Wu, and some interviews, I had changed my mind that I despised Director Wu and Chibi.
Discovery once did a show about John Woo. He was born in the lower class of Hong Kong, because he looks like an actor and can only play tricks, and then he turned to director - In fact, I always believed that Sai Weng lost his horse, but I know it's not a blessing, I even sometimes feel that good or bad is a secular standard, and there is no good or bad in the world. Fen, Bodhi is not a tree, and a mirror is not a stage - John Woo was obsessed with musicals, swordsmen, and weapons when he was a teenager. In the first 5 years of his tenure as a director, HK's martial arts movies were like today's Taiwanese idol dramas. There is a pattern, Action is action, drama is drama. In translation, action movies don't need too much plot. Comedy is always about making money by laughing, not making people cry or laugh when they see it. It seems that 30 years later we can look down on the shallowness of the time, but today, 30 years later, how smart are we? I rarely watch TVB, because TVB is always the model of love-hate-hate-hate rich people. Who dares to make art films on TVB?
At that time, John Woo, as a contract director, was all for the purpose of making money for the film company - after making seven or eight blockbuster comedy films, he was tired and wanted to make some movies with real feelings, or he wanted to be an artist once. The film company's answer was No. So he was helpless. Continue to make comedy movies, very painful and confused, crying to friends, friends persuaded him not to be a director at all until he met Tsui Hark. At that time, Tsui Hark had already made a name for himself. He fully supports John Woo to make a film of his own. These two important people in the Hong Kong film industry at that time, combined their various capitals, decided to take a risk and make a movie not according to the commercial laws of long-term blockbuster movies, which is the true nature of heroes. When Wu Yusen was interviewed, he said with a smile, at the premiere, Chow Yun-fat and I went to the cinema to see the audience's reaction. We kept smoking in the back and were very nervous. When the movie was over, the audience was silent. We are clueless. After a few minutes, everyone began to applaud, and some even stood up to applaud, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Some people say that John Woo completely changed the face of HK action movies. In fact, he is very lucky to have an excellent business partner. He is his investor. His investor, with John Woo's works, traveled thousands of miles to participate in various film festivals around the world, to show his partner's works to people all over the world. It wasn't long before Woo received a call from someone in Hollywood. - I don't think Leslie Cheung has such a good life. He reached the peak of an actor and tried to turn into a director. He began to try when he was not confused: he found a script and found an actor - I have been preparing for a long time to direct a non-commercial film with spirit - preparation For a long time, it was because investors could not be found. After finally finding one, he ran away halfway through and was forced to suspend the first film he took as his life - one of the causes of his death. Therefore, it is very important to have a good Career/business Partner. Especially when you're starting a business.
After receiving the call, John Woo sold his house in HK when everyone in Hong Kong didn't know it. He has always been paid, so he went to the United States with a small amount of savings. Few people in Hollywood knew him - proud America, little attention was paid to Hong Kong in this part of the world. His first film in the US was very unsuccessful - not recognized. But there were still people who were touched by the movie - Quentin, the director of the later kill bill, Hollywood No. 1. Quentin had a very good friendship with John's Tower of Yield. He asked John to see John Woo's work and said that this person was worthy of cooperation. John went to see it and went to Nicolas Cage excitedly after reading it - a lot like a pyramid scheme, isn't it? John Woo regarded them as Chow Yun-fat, tried his best to get along with American actors, and tried to find a common idea between the East and the West as the theme of the movie - such as family love. After that, there was Broken Arrow, Spy: Impossible 2, and John Woo was at the height of his power in Hollywood.
The director's bowl of rice is actually not delicious. No matter how good a director is, he has failed a few times. For example, Chen Kaige, if he makes the second film Wuji, then his directing career will be over - maybe he will never find a big investor again, and he will not be able to get a good script. . Therefore, he will conservatively choose Mei Lanfang after failing once, which is the subject he is good at. Wong Kar Wai has failed 2 times in a row. In 2046 and Blueberry Night, he has a stronger foundation than Chen Kaige and has more successful works to back it up, but if he fails again 1-2 times, I doubt whether Tony Leung is still willing to be his protagonist. . Even if Tony Leung talks about loyalty, does he still have the budget to invite Tony Leung?
So Director Wu is a gambler - every time he succeeds, it is the result of a risk. This person has been around for a long time and always wants to change. It took a few years for a good commercial comedy film after debut, and it was going smoothly, and my bones were itchy, and I wanted to subvert this model. If he is lucky and successful, then let's develop according to the new model. After he became a hero, he was in the limelight, and after a while, he uprooted and went to the United States. So far, only a handful of Chinese have succeeded in Hollywood, Zhang Ziyi, Ang Lee, who else? Chow Yun-fat and Jet Li were very marginalized in Hollywood, when John Woo went to the United States - the only Chinese successful example he could follow in Hollywood was Bruce Lee. His old man went on like this without any guarantee of success. Fortunately, he succeeded again. Now he's a sign in America, but he's been doing it successfully for a few more years - and the deadline for his cycle is just around the corner. Chibi was obviously his attempt - he said his goal was to shoot epic genres. Unfortunately in China, Chibi is a failure.
If you want to comment on a person, after understanding what he has said and done, you will get a result that is often very complicated and difficult to draw conclusions. But in any case, Wu Yusen will become a director worthy of taking off his hat and leaving a deep impression in the history of Chinese film.
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