The two words "wu" and "xia" are a knot in the hearts of Chinese people. On the one hand, they fantasize that they can surpass ordinary people through "wu", and on the other hand, they hope that they will shoulder the responsibility of being good to the world. The former is an individual's cultivation, and the latter is a responsibility as a member of society. When the two are combined, "Martial Arts" has become the most beautiful dream in the hearts of Chinese scholars.
Scholar-officers in ancient China often give people the impression that they have the world in their hearts but are not up to their goals. This is quite similar to those who call themselves intellectuals today. Therefore, Chen Kexin, who is very literate, made a film of a scholar-official style. The martial arts movie!
Hong Kong directors entering the mainland market to rush for gold is a very unique scene for Chinese films. The author has contacted many Hong Kong-made scripts. In my opinion, most Hong Kong directors have made a lot of leftovers with the help of funds from the mainland. Zhi, but there are two directors who deserve my respect, one is Tsui Hark and the other is Chen Kexin, because they are both trying to break through themselves and still doing diligent exploration work for Chinese films.
It is well known that Tsui Hark created a new chapter of martial arts, and Chen Kexin, as a relatively literary director, actually dedicated a movie called "Martial Arts" this time, which cannot but arouse the majority of fans or movies. The attention of practitioners.
About a month ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a press conference for "Wu Xia". At that time, I got the impression that the director was trying to convey to the media his personal concept of shooting the film. Generally speaking, the director in this situation must be uneasy in his heart. He is trying hard to do something, but he is afraid that the audience will not accept it and lead to a fiasco at the box office. In fact, the box office of any director who tries to tell his own filmmaking philosophy is actually not satisfactory. Maybe he has gone too far, or maybe he has realized that the film is about to fail.
Therefore, although the author agrees with Director Chen's many attempts and applauds Director Chen's courage, but I also have no illusions in my heart. Finally, I took advantage of the media to watch the film in advance and saw the complete "Martial Arts". In the evaluation, it is "stunning and traditional coexist".
What kind of story is traditional? In fact, this is a very difficult question to explain, but we can gain insights from some ancient poems. For example, in the minds of scholar-officials, "poor is good for one's own body, and prosperity is good for the world." , In the most popular words, "Those who have the ability must be in the folk!"
Tradition is actually a psychological effect, a process of verifying folk proverbs, so we can see many similar stories, and "Martial Arts" is no exception, and Donnie Yen is naturally playing the capable person hidden in the folk. If a capable person never starts, then naturally it does not constitute a story, at most it is a record of personal cultivation. This kind of film has no dramatic conflict. . As a martial arts film, all you have to do at the beginning is to force the master to take action, the original balance is broken in an instant, conflicts arise, and the plot can continue.
I believe that many people have read similar martial arts novels. An ordinary family suddenly suffered a disaster. It turned out that this seemingly ordinary family was not ordinary, but just avoided the world. The peaceful life is broken, and the protagonist begins the road of escape and revenge.
Seeking revenge is the most common way to break the tranquility, but in "Martial Arts", the way to break the tranquility becomes an accident! If the tranquility is broken, then the unexpected method is obviously not traditional. In fact, this concept has been reflected in Zhou Ye's "Kung Fu". The masters in Dazhai are actually disturbed by the accident. The result turned into a feast of kung fu competition like Tian Ji's horse racing.
A small desolate village, an accidental robbery, these elements alone are not enough to completely break the peace. At this time, the director introduced a fast-tracking role. I believe everyone knows that this role is to fuck A Sichuan dialect with some fine points of Takeshi Kaneshiro.
Is there any necessity in chance? Therefore, the accident must have its essence, and Xu Baijiu deeply believed in this concept, so the film entered the feeling of a genre film. The character Xu Baijiu is not the protagonist of the film, but in terms of the film's structure and clues, Xu Baijiu is undoubtedly a soul-like character.
In martial arts novels, suspense is a very important element. Generally speaking, it is related to power, ambition, revenge, but Xu Baijiu just wanted to dig out the truth of this accident. At this time, the director began to introduce the concept of scientific martial arts or medical martial arts. .
Everyone has a kind of martial arts in their hearts. In Chen Kexin's mind, martial arts are scientific. In fact, this concept is not new. The meridian movement that Chinese martial arts pays attention to all involve human body science, but it has been downplayed due to the prevalence of Western science and the exaggeration of eastern human body science. Similar martial arts films have also been made, such as those about acupuncture, but there are indeed exaggerated elements, so they are not credible.
First of all, we should see that Chen Kexin's microscopic martial arts concept is by no means a medical or martial arts lecture, but is created for the sake of the story, for the expression technique, so, in some respects, it is also unbelievable, but the technique of its camera performance is not Impress the audience.
When an extremely modern lens language appears in a martial arts film, such as microscopic blood vessels and meridians, such as the mirror rhythm of precise minutes, this impact completely breaks the martial arts concept that we oriental people are accustomed to. In the past, what we emphasized when shooting was the realm and nature. What we saw was the fusion of the human body and nature. The point of exaggeration is the change in the human body that drives nature, but the internal changes in the human body are rarely seen. A symbolic lens language is used, such as the two egg yolks in "Eagle Claw Iron Cloth Shirt". The damage inside the human body still hasn't reached the microscopic level, but the impact is like feeling the same.
To be honest, the microscopic lens does not have the effect of empathy in the audience's vision at all, but it is extremely fresh and makes the audience feel a new sky. In other words, martial arts films can be shot like this, and they can form such a perfect mirror with modern mirrors. Unite!
For Chinese martial arts films or kung fu films, the significance of Chen Kexin's microscopic martial arts concept does not lie in the feeling of being on the scene, or the ability of the body to bear, but a transformation of thinking. This is undoubtedly a pioneering work, and it is certain that It is said that this initiative will affect the production methods of martial arts films that are in trouble.
The author's only concern is that, because of the groundbreaking existence, follow-throughs will follow, and we have to go back to the story itself. The reason why Xu Baijiu saw through Liu Jinxi's disguise was precisely the concept of this microscopic martial arts. From a certain point of view, Chen Kexin's microscopic martial arts is not only a means of expression, but also an important part of the narrative. All the answers to the suspense in the first half of the film are in this expression.
In fact, the film has formed a complete pattern here, and the concept of warriors hiding in the city has been highlighted, but in fact, there is no meaning of chivalry in this. If there is no chivalry in martial arts films, the audience will be disappointed. , and Director Chen, who is a fan of literature and art, can never just emphasize its microscopic sense, so the film enters the second half, the story of Xia.
What is a chivalrous person, there must be a general concept in the hearts of the Chinese people, and everyone may say it differently, but in some traditional stories, there are generally two things that a chivalrous person has to do. , the second is not afraid of power. So the film also returned to tradition.
As mentioned earlier, Xu Baijiu is the main character in the film's structure, and his persistence also caused the story in the second half of the film to happen. People in the rivers and lakes can't help themselves. Once they enter the rivers and lakes, they will live in the rivers and lakes for life. Tang Long couldn't get rid of it either.
As Director Chen said, in his view of martial arts, the works of Director Zhang Che are the most influential to him, not only the fighting style, but also the compassionate life. Jiang David in "Little Devil" can't get rid of his former organization, and Tang Long is also eager to return by the big BOSS played by Wang Yu, especially the final battle in the mud, which is a replica of many of Zhang Che's films. Of course, Wang Yuzhi It is unexpected for most people to think of death, but it also understands the meaning of scientific martial arts.
In fact, the real chivalrous person in the film is not the character played by Tang Long, but Xu Baijiu, a person who no longer believes in people. A man-made initiative.
Many friends say that this film looks weird. Of course, its lens language does subvert our traditional martial arts movies, but in fact, its story is quite traditional and quite Chinese, but in fact, the weirdness of the film is still In terms of the division between martial arts and chivalry, the structure is obviously the former martial arts and the latter heroes, and in terms of characters, Tang Long's martial arts and Xu Baijiu's chivalry are also separated.
Separating martial arts and chivalrous performances is what differentiates "Martial Arts" from other martial arts or kung fu movies. The characters seem to be thin, but they are actually more real!
As an innovative martial arts film, this film is believed to be able to leave a mark in the history of Chinese film, but it is undeniable that this film is somewhat unsatisfactory in some places. The connection does not seem to be very smooth, and there is also a sense of separation, which will make the audience feel a little inappropriate. Similarly, the language style of the shots in the first and second half is like two movies, especially the martial arts design and the resulting The microscopic lens that came out did not reach an agreement before and after. After the director's microscopic martial arts concept became a narrative element in the first half of the film, it was no longer traceable in the second half, so it would give people a feeling of tightness and looseness.
Han Xi
June 28, 2011
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