Huang Feihong, a legend, a martial arts master in history.
Under Tsui Hark's lens, the combination became my most direct, most fiery and purest memory of "Xia". .
In fact, as early as the 1980s, the films that Tsui Hark and John Woo collaborated on have created the myth of Hong Kong film history, but after all, Tsui Hark was only a producer at that time, which really made people realize his unrestrained film talents, but also the first promotion < Huang Feihong>series of movies. In fact, "Huang Feihong" not only achieved the status of Jet Li's superstar, but also became an insurmountable peak in Tsui Hark's film career. Whether it was "The Legend of Shushan", which was built up with computer stunts, or "Seven" full of ambition Sword>, can no longer reach that level. And today's martial arts movies, more just let us marvel at the progress of modern technology and the incompetence of directors.
From the first "Once Upon a Time" in 1992 to today, it has been 15 years. In fact, the "Once Upon a Time" series of films is not Tsui Hark's "there is no one before, and no one since." In fact, Hong Kong-made "Once Upon a Time" has a long history. It is said that there are as many as 87 films in the "Huang Feihong" series. The subject matter itself is very entertaining and the film is made into such a long
series , I am afraid that there are few films that can compare with it. The new work brings an audience base, but at the same time it brings more challenges. The popularity of the previous version made Tsui Hark must add new elements to make it not obliterated by the old version of "Once Upon a Time". At this point, Tsui Hark is Successful. He inherited the essence of traditional kung fu films---chivalry, but the "chivalry" he expounded is very different from the traditional "chivalry" we are familiar with.
Xu's version of
Due to the precarious period of the Qing government and the influx of Western culture with the influx of colonial aggression, Tsui Hark has taken a step forward in handling this point, breaking through the stereotype of traditional martial arts films and integrating into the Chinese martial arts theme. A lot of western culture. This is not just the reflection of a lot of modern things in the film, in fact, the love between Thirteenth Aunt and Huang Feihong is the best example. Huang Feihong is essentially a very traditional Chinese man. It is relatively strong The ethical consciousness of the emperor, and the self-proclaimed self-proclaimed celestial kingdom is reflected in him. The Thirteenth Aunt represents Western-style culture, she receives Western-style education and possesses Western-style thinking. According to common sense, her love with Huang Feihong is impossible. But their love is not just pure love, it is endowed with a deeper meaning-----that is, the blending of two cultures..
Their love and "Long Guo" love have the same effect, Both are beyond the general social ethics. But the difference is that
Born , Entry into the WTO. Tsui Hark's Political Arguments
Generally speaking , the protagonists of martial arts movies are dazzling and gorgeous fights and knights who are loyal to the sky. Politics is not the darling of martial arts movies. However, Tsui Hark obviously wants to put this The film serves as its own manifesto, therefore,
It is worth mentioning that the photography of the film "Once Upon a Time - The King's Style", the color tone of the whole film tends to be pessimistic - whether it is a bloody sky at the beginning, or a scene like the end of the world at the end. I think Tsui Hark Not only does it mean the end of feudalism, but it also alludes to the irreversible decline of the martial arts world.
Is kung fu, omnipotent?
In most kung fu films, kung fu—the skill that knights depend on for survival is called omnipotent. It seems that with superior martial arts, he will be invincible and all problems will be solved. However, Tsui Hark tries to overturn this theorem. There are almost all modern weapons such as muskets in the film. With the power of advanced weapons. Just like in "Dragon City Jieba", firearms seem to replace kung fu and become the protagonist of the movie. The master Yan Zhendong in the first episode finally fell under the foreign gun, indicating that the eastern civilization is more advanced in the west A tragedy under the oppression of civilization - "Fists and feet can't beat guns"
, Tsui Hark did a great job. Different from the foolishness of Wong Fei-hung starring Qian Jiale who defeated foreign guns in a hotel, Tsui Hark's China Kung fu is not a myth. While promoting the power of Huang Feihong's shadowless feet, he did not forget to exercise restraint. Otherwise, it would be as contemptible as the so-called "magical body protection, invulnerability" of the White Lotus Sect. No matter how brave the Chinese soldiers are, they can't compete with the strong ships and sharp guns of the West. The body of the sword and the spear fights, but the guns and guns fight the technology.
The action between fantasy and reality
As a grandmaster of a generation, Huang Feihong has left us with too many legends, and as the most common and most important element in kung fu films, it is the most difficult to grasp - action. Tsui Hark's "Once Upon a Time" can be called a classic among the classics. Among them, Yuan Heping's action guidance made the first contribution. Whether it is to continue the solid but lacking aesthetic movements of the predecessors or to rely on modern but unrealistic techniques, "Once Upon a Time" gives new ideas. The answer is somewhere between fantasy and reality. Therefore, every life-and-death fight of Huang Feihong in the film brings us in addition to shock and hearty pleasure, but it is not like the current martial arts movies. It's completely disgusting from reality. So many classic fighting scenes in the movie have been imitated many times by later generations. Sadly, in today's advanced technology, the theme of martial arts movies---the action is getting worse and worse, even if
About the name Huang Feihong, it has a fatal lethal power to kung fu movie fans. Looking back on the past, every action is fascinating , Every character is deeply memorable. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Xu version of "Once Upon a Time" has influenced a generation of fans. Of course, the "Once Upon a Time" series is not perfect, and its quality is also uneven, but always In other words, it is a successful attempt of martial arts movies. There is no doubt about its status as a classic.
Fifteen years later, I wrote something casually to commemorate the man who once made people's blood boil to be self-improvement, and to commemorate the man who made me feel proud. "Xia"!
Still that sentence, fifteen years, still Huang Feihong!
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The original text was written in the summer of 2007.
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