How long have you not seen a hearty domestic kung fu film?
In the era of the popularity of science fiction films and superhero films, the decline of kung fu films has become an indisputable fact.
Looking back at the long history of domestic kung fu films, four famous characters have been repeatedly put on the screen, they are: Huo Yuanjia, Ip Man, Huang Feihong and Fang Shiyu.
Compared with the master images of Huo Yuanjia, Ye Wen, and Huang Feihong, Fang Shiyu portrayed in film and television works is more inclined to the image of a lively and naughty young hero.
Among them, the most familiar and classic to the audience is the Jet Li version of "Fang Shiyu" released in 1993.
In the early 1990s, Tsui Hark's "Once Upon a Time" series set off a craze for kung fu films. Jet Li has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people because of his role in "Once Upon a Time". People on the streets of Hong Kong called him "Master Huang", which made him think. transformation.
More importantly, Jet Li suffered too many off-site accidents: one had a dispute with Jiahe, one had a dispute with the then "former manager" David Luo, and the other was the accidental death of his new manager, Cai Ziming...
For various reasons, Jet Li began to decide to establish his own business, and recruited Hong Kong gold medal producer Cui Baozhu and director Yuan Kui to set up the "Zhengdong" film company.
And "Fang Shiyu" is Zhengdong's first film. It was a script that Liu Zhenwei spent 5 days writing "to cope with".
At that time, Liu Zhenwei was still filming "East and West", and in the gap between scenes, he was driven out of the hotel desperately. After writing the script, he fell asleep for two whole days. Jet Li's vision was very good. After reading the script, he immediately called to invite the screenwriter to dinner. He was excited and excited.
In this way, in a situation that everyone is not optimistic about, "Fang Shiyu", which focuses on youth style, under the unrestrained story, with dazzling action design, directly exploded.
Not only did it win 30 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, it was comparable to "Huang Feihong's Man Becoming Self-improvement", but also won the best action instructor and the best martial arts instructor at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards respectively, and was selected by the American "Entertainment Weekly". As "one of the 19 best kung fu movies in history", it can be described as a double harvest at the box office, which is the envy of all filmmakers.
After "Fang Shiyu", "Zhengdong" Film Company has produced many classic Hong Kong movies such as "Fang Shiyu Sequel", "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng", "Heroes of Jingwu" and "Zhongnanhai Bodyguard".
It is worth mentioning here that Cui Baozhu, another important founder of "Zhengdong", passed away in September 2019. She provided very great help at this extremely important transition point of Jet Li, even when she was in a career crisis, and also had a very deep friendship with Jet Li, so she was also regarded by Jet Li as an "important woman in life" .
Let's go back to the movie, the story of "Fang Shiyu" tells the story of how Fang Shiyu joined the Safflower Club from a rich kid from a rich family.
During the Qianlong period, Leihu, a powerful party, had no one in Guangdong, and put down his rhetoric, "fighting Guangdong province and kicking Suzhou and Hangzhou." The young and frivolous Fang Shiyu heard the words and went to participate in the arena competition held by him to recruit relatives.
When she was about to win the battle with Leihu's wife Li Xiaohuan, she found out that Tingting, who was wearing a headscarf, was an ugly girl and immediately conceded defeat. Miao Cuihua, who heard that her son was defeated, disguised herself as a man, taught Li Xiaohuan a lesson and won the game.
Lei Tiger was afraid that things would change, so he snatched Fang Shiyu into the mansion.
Miao Cuihua escaped with Fang Shiyu on the pretext of returning to the door, and bumped into her father Fang Dezhi taking over the roster of the "Honghuahui".
The three Fang family wanted to take refuge in the Lei family, but unexpectedly bumped into the nine-door admiral at the wedding banquet, Fang De was arrested, Li Xiaohuan was seriously injured, and everyone fled in confusion.
Admiral Jiumen wanted to ask Fangde to kill Fang Shiyu, Fang Shiyu came to save his father alone, and then everyone rushed to save Fangde and worked together to get rid of Admiral Jiumen. Fang Shiyu worshipped Chen Jialuo as his godfather, and took Tingting to follow Honghua to go through the rivers and lakes.
In general, the reason why "Fang Shiyu" was so popular back then was that it broke the audience's single impression of being too serious and old-fashioned about kung fu films. Let more young people like and accept it.
Let's take a closer look. First of all, Yuan Kui, a famous Hong Kong action director, brought bright colors to this kung fu film.
As a representative figure in the Hong Kong martial arts industry, his movement design is elegant, free and easy, but also extremely fast, which well reflects the essence of Chinese martial arts.
In "Fang Shiyu", the one that best reflects this characteristic is the scene where Fang Shiyu and Miao Cuihua use the "shadowless hand" to fight off the nine-door admiral Erdo. Made a very deep impression.
The action design of the long and short battle between Fang Shiyu and Erdo in the dyeing workshop not only fully combines the action with the environment, but also brings a strong visual impact.
Not only that, a lot of action scenes in the film combined with witty expressions and interesting lines make the whole film very entertaining.
The second is the lighthearted tone of the whole movie.
Unlike Tsui Hark's "Once Upon a Time" series, which has a stern and serious style, the overall tone of "Fang Shiyu" gives a sense of wit and humor.
Take a look at the scene below. Does the contrast between the characters' actions and lines seem a bit nonsensical?
Because the behind-the-scenes screenwriter of "Fang Shiyu" is composed of Liu Zhenwei, Chen Jianzhong and Cai Yongkang, the director and screenwriter of the "Westward Journey" series, the humorous and nonsensical style is definitely authentic.
What's more, the luxurious cast of "Fang Shiyu" can kill a piece even today.
Top martial arts duo like Jet Li and Zhao Wenzhuo, Li Jiaxin, who is indescribably beautiful, Xiao Fangfang and Hu Huizhong, who are both handsome and powerful, Zheng Shaoqiu, who is elegant and charming, as well as powerful actors Zhu Jiang and Chen Songyong, are all stars shining. !
Needless to say, "Kung Fu Emperor" Jet Li has a solid foundation in martial arts. Zhao Wenzhuo, a fellow junior and apprentice, is dressed in fresh clothes and angry horses in the film. The two presented the audience with clear and refreshing martial arts action scenes.
Xiao Fangfang's performance of "Miao Cuihua" can be said to be very eye-catching, not only in the action scenes, but also not inferior to Jet Li and Zhao Wenzhuo in the action scenes, and her extremely exaggerated and individual performance is even more impressive to the audience.
It is worth mentioning that the "Thunder Tiger" played by Chen Songyong dares to love and hate, and the mantra "convincing people with virtue" has become one of the classic lines of the film.
What's more interesting, Guo Tao and Pan Yueming played the son-in-law who molested Li Jiaxin and the servant standing behind Leihu respectively in this film. Do you recognize it?
As a typical legendary story, it explains how a playboy, after experiencing the sacrifice of his brother, the robbing of his relatives, and the encounter of true love, finally turned into a man who can protect his relatives and family.
In this film, there is a sense of pride in the arena and children of the rivers and lakes, who dare to love and hate, and dare to act and act like a chivalrous young man can even arouse people's blood. At the same time, the story combines saving the family with saving the country, highlighting the morality of life that adheres to the bottom line of the heart.
"Fang Shiyu" not only restores the dreams of the rivers and lakes that we expect in our hearts, but also tells us that life is always unavoidable from small troubles, but in the face of big right and wrong, don't forget your own principles and bottom lines.
Today, why do we keep taking this movie out to see it?
Because there has always been a youthful spirit in his heart that will not admit defeat.
Bluestone Film | Leng Zimo (Internship)
This article is the original content of Bluestone Movie, please do not reprint it in any form without authorization
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