A few days ago, I accidentally swiped a clip of this movie at station B. After watching it for a few minutes, it brought back strong memories. I couldn’t help it, and went to watch the original film again. Such an excellent film deserves a serious review of it.
I still remember when I was in elementary school, the family was not rich, and the limited entertainment resources were the discs that my brother rented from the store. There were some collections of Hong Kong movies. The one that impressed me the most was "Zhongnanhai Bodyguard". (this film) and "New Crane Needle" (starring Tony Leung), so I watched this film several times when I was in elementary school. The narrative of this film is very simple, even elementary school children can understand it. At that time, I only thought that martial arts scenes were really handsome, and my understanding of Jet Li's role also stayed in his martial arts part. The film also potentially influenced me, gradually making me love the art of film and developing my film taste.
I don’t remember anything about junior high school, I just remember that I watched this movie in high school, and then I watched it again when I was in college. I still remember clearly that the original film of this movie was available at station B when I was in college. I also recommended it to my girlfriend at the time.
Now, watching it again, I feel a little deeper, not because of how profound this film is. I actually don't pursue the depth of movies that much. I think the greater role of movies is as an entertainment product. It's good to have fun.
Next, I will start to sketch the plot of this movie, and talk about my understanding of the character building and the development direction of the plot from several aspects. (If you don't want to see the plot analysis, you can skip the dividing line content)
(spoiler risk)
From the current point of view, this work does not have the advanced multi-line and multi-layered narrative like Nolan, nor does it have the grand and broad picture photography like Zhang Yimou, but a very typical Hong Kong film style. From the perspective of the screen, due to the limitations of the shooting location of Hong Kong movies, the shooting locations of Hong Kong film and television are very restricted. It can be said that there is no big scene in this film. There are almost two scenes, one is the heroine’s villa and the other is a large shopping mall (this Kind of like "Dragon Inn"). The smaller the scene, the higher the requirements for controlling the plot of the story, and a little inattentiveness may make the audience feel boring. From the beginning to the end, the film successfully focuses the audience's attention on the characters' emotions and martial arts. Each protagonist and supporting role in the play has their own complete story line, which can be said to be very successful.
The film can be divided into several paragraphs according to the novel style of chapters:
1 Explain the background of the story 2 The male and female protagonists meet 3 Early confrontation 4 Mid-term small climax 5 Late transformation 6 Climax battle 7 Ending
At the beginning, an exercise was used to explain the male protagonist Xu Zhengyang's professional ability and his style of behavior: strong business ability, very aggressive in handling affairs, and would not let customers suffer any harm. At this time, I first explained that the leader wants to tour the South, the protagonist is the best bodyguard, and will be sent to perform protection tasks, but before going to the South Tour, I took a task to protect the girlfriend of Hong Kong's richest man (Miss Yang). .
After introducing the background of the story, the heroine appears. The first line the heroine said was: What I do is what I think I should do. What is created is a person who is upright, who dares to speak out. At this time, there are also two supporting roles, one is the Hong Kong police played by Fei Bo, and the other is the little policeman who is his sidekick. Both are just roles.
Before the male protagonist arrived at the villa, the female protagonist said in a phone chat with her rich boyfriend that what she wanted was not a bodyguard, but the company of her boyfriend. At this time, the female protagonist's heart was all with the rich boyfriend. Then the male protagonist appeared. Here, Fei Bo explained some background. It can be speculated that this time should be the eve of Hong Kong's return, that is, 1997. It is further speculated that the southern tour mentioned above is of great significance to the male protagonist.
After a simple conversation, it was the first fight scene, so the heroine and the hero met for the first time, and another supporting role was also introduced - the heroine's younger brother. When we first met, the heroine (Ms. Yang in the play) thought the hero (Xu Zhengyang) was very rude, and the first impression was very bad.
After the male protagonist dismissed all the irrelevant people in the villa, he said again: You should try not to approach Miss Yang as much as possible, indicating that the male protagonist is completely acting in his previous style at this time and does not trust any outsiders.
At night, the male protagonist began to check the safety of the entire villa's facilities and installed cameras everywhere. During the inspection in the female host's room, the two confronted again. At this time, the female host hated the male host very much, believing that he violated privacy and human rights.
From the next day, the director gave a few more exaggerated details to show the male protagonist's professional skills and low-key behavior (and also paved the way for the final battle with the villain). Then the male protagonist escorted the female protagonist to the work unit and asked for a two-week leave for her, on the grounds that the scope of activities was narrowed for personal safety. The heroine is a restless character, which further aggravates the contradiction between the two. The heroine always hopes that the rich boyfriend can come back to accompany her, but the rich has always had official business and has no time (this also planted the seeds for the development of the later plot). It was time to check the safety of the room again at night. After checking the safety of the bed, the female protagonist did not sleep on the bed, but slept directly on the ground. This was a manifestation of rebelling against the male protagonist.
A few days later, the female protagonist wanted to sneak out to play, but was discovered by the male protagonist through the monitor phone, and the two clashed again. At this time, the female protagonist's disgust for the male protagonist reached the extreme. At this time, the director arranged a phone scene. The heroine couldn't be idle, so she had to go out to play. At first, the hero thought the mission was over. However, due to the postponement of the court session, the mission would continue for another month, and this directly As a result, the glorious mission of following the leader's southern tour went straight. At this time, the male protagonist experienced psychological fluctuations for the first time: his mentality collapsed, and the responsibility was attributed to the current task of protecting the female protagonist: arguing every day to go out to play, then whatever Play enough!
Let's enter a textbook-level shopping mall shootout scene. The action design of this scene is smooth, the plot is well-conceived, the props and venue advantages of the shopping mall are skillfully brought into full play, and the scene scheduling is mature. It is an absolute canon. Got me hooked! From this scene, it also led to the appearance of the big villain.
During the first battle in the shopping mall, the female protagonist was in danger. Every time she encountered danger, she was resolved by the male protagonist. Especially in the scene where the balloons were flying around, it could be seen that the female protagonist was very anxious when she did not see the male protagonist. Many people died in this scene. It was the first time that the heroine was so close to danger, which completely changed her attitude towards the hero, and said sorry for the first time, and the hero also smiled at the heroine for the first time.
From here, the attitude of the two towards each other has changed a lot. The female protagonist felt the charm of the male protagonist and was very grateful for his protection in the mall. The director then arranged an umbrella scene. The male protagonist was repairing work in the rain. The female protagonist took the initiative to go over to hold the umbrella and asked the male protagonist if he had a girlfriend. At this time, the heroine should not have completely liked the hero. She just accepted the protection of the bodyguard from the bottom of her heart, and asked some questions, such as what are parents doing? How many siblings are there? These are the female protagonists who are beginning to be interested in the person in front of them, but they are only preliminary. At this time, it is difficult to say whether the female protagonist likes the male protagonist. During the process of being helped down the stairs by the male protagonist, the female protagonist Joking that she can be the male lead's girlfriend, she knows that it is impossible to get a positive answer at this time. This is actually the female lead's question to herself. (The conversation between the two was interrupted by the appearance of the villain, and then the male protagonist went to chase the villain. In fact, I think it is a bit inconsistent with the character. At this time, according to the male protagonist's steady style, the female protagonist should be concealed at the first time, not pursued. )
Later, the male protagonist thought that the room was unsafe, and put on bulletproof glass. At this time, the male protagonist told Fei Bo not to let the female protagonist know about the danger and let her have a good birthday. It means that the male protagonist has been disturbed by the previous female protagonist's jokes in the rain, and the male protagonist's thoughts have also been shaken, but it is still very bland and difficult to detect. When checking the heroine's room again, the heroine began to lie on the bed smiling and drinking the milk prepared by the hero every day. There were also small interactions between the two. The heroine also made a new suit for the hero. The male protagonist remained silent. At this time, it was very coincidental that the rich boyfriend called and asked if he wanted to change the bodyguard. The heroine said that he would talk about it after a while, but the hero still did not speak and continued to check. Both of them expressed their thoughts in their own way. It can be considered that the female protagonist has fallen in love with the bodyguard now, and the male protagonist is also moved. (Actually, the director used the role of the heroine's younger brother to describe the heroine's emotional changes.) And on the birthday, the rich boyfriend returned to the villa's door. It is reasonable to say that the heroine has been expecting the rich boyfriend to come back from the beginning. Speaking of such a surprise on her birthday, the heroine should show a very surprised and incredible look, but the heroine just said no, which also profoundly reflects the change in the heroine's mentality at this time. During the follow-up meal, the heroine did not dare to let her boyfriend touch her hand, which also showed that she had changed her mind, and because she was a person who dared to love and hate, the heroine did not know how to face herself at this time, so she behaved Out of nowhere. Then the hostess went to the bathroom, and a strange woman said: Your boyfriend is a very gentleman, which has pushed the hostess's feelings a big step forward. At this time, the male protagonist no longer dared to face the female protagonist's eyes, indicating that the male protagonist has fallen in love with the female protagonist at this time.
Immediately following a living room scene, the female protagonist stood behind the male protagonist. The director made the male protagonist's steel soldier feel at a loss when faced with emotions, his heart was flustered, and his breathing was tense. The male protagonist's hand began to press the monitor involuntarily. . At this point, I think the heroine already has a plan to pursue the hero. This plan is divided into several steps. The first step is to give a watch: the heroine takes out a watch and gives it to the hero as a gift, and brings it for the hero. , this restrained ambiguity is very pleasing! The second step is to be sidelined: ask the male protagonist if there is anything worth lingering about in Hong Kong. Then observe the behavior of the male protagonist. After seeing that the male protagonist took off the original watch and put on a new watch, the female protagonist was encouraged and began to summon the courage to call the male protagonist to the room and start the last step: confession. This room dialogue pushes the development of the relationship to the climax. The heroine's performance is very in line with the brave character, and the hero also shows the ambivalence of a soldier when facing feelings. The first step towards the heroine is Emotional, the second step brought back rationality, and the director very, very ingeniously added the humorous section of closing the shutters, which shows its profound foundation. After the female protagonist closed the door, the director used a backlight to outline the female protagonist's sexy and charming body, advancing towards the male protagonist from the perspective of the female protagonist walking. , the camera went black, accompanied by the sound of bgm, when the audience thought that the story would develop further, the male protagonist suddenly said a neat sentence: it's too late, go to bed earlier. He rushed out the door. Every time I see this, I sigh that the director is really good! This ambiguous atmosphere was created so wonderfully that there was no further vulgarity and no sigh. It is precisely because there is no further story between the two that this relationship is so moving and memorable.
Immediately following the climax of the fighting scene in the whole play, there was a famous scene where the male protagonist blocked the bullet for the female protagonist. At the end, the male protagonist did not appear, but left a watch for the female protagonist, so that this relationship ended in the most perfect way, which was thought-provoking. The end.
Now, you can take a look at the emotional development process of the two from beginning to end. The first encounter between the two was tit-for-tat, but the shootout in the middle of the mall changed the heroine's attitude greatly. The second half fell in love with the hero, and finally reached the point of life and death. Although it was only an hour and a half, it was completely reasonable. There were no sudden jumps in emotional development, and no emotional scenes that were inexplicably inserted.
In high school, the teacher often said that the protagonist of a good story should have a psychological growth. For example, in the theatrical version of Doraemon, Nobita's mentality is generally from cowardice at the beginning, to becoming brave and strong after experiencing some stories. This completes the shaping of a character, making the character flesh and blood. Then, for such a character with an extremely complete personality, it is more difficult to make him grow psychologically. At this time, another method must be used, which is to show the emotional attitude of the characters through the development of the plot, just like this movie. Subtle changes, such changes are not necessarily growth and maturity, nor are they necessarily unidirectional. A certain degree of entanglement, the alternation of sensibility and rationality, can better reflect the authenticity of the characters. In this work, all the actions of the heroine are based on her daring to love, dare to hate, and upright character. She is very brave in front of her emotions, and she lacks the love of her boyfriend. The motivation for her behavior is very consistent with the character. From the very beginning, I hated the male protagonist very much, and finally fell in love with the male protagonist. Skilled, how immature emotionally. From the very beginning, the male protagonist was unsmiling to everyone, showing the appearance of a man of steel. Later, he chatted with everyone for his birthday, and finally showed the confused side of his innermost feelings. The whole process developed very smoothly. This sense of smoothness is mainly due to the fact that they have always adhered to their own characters, and their actions and words are in line with the characters, so the director makes the characters more and more three-dimensional through the development of the story, rather than forcibly placing emotional lines in some works. Any foreshadowing (such as the male dwarfs and female elves in "The Hobbit") is not like some works where people set up, collapse, and jump repeatedly (for example, the protagonists in the later stages of "The Walking Dead" are inexplicably kind and arbitrary for a while. ).
In addition to the advantage of keeping the original character of the characters, there is another reason why I agree with this movie very much. That is, the handling of emotional scenes is relaxed and targeted. For a soldier and a woman who already has a boyfriend, the degree of the story between them needs to be grasped very carefully, and the director grasps every interaction between the two just right, ambiguous and restrained, passionate and reserved, The end result is to let the audience feel a little regret and feel very satisfied. It is actually very difficult to do this well. For example, in "The Origin of the White Snake", the emotional development in the early stage is actually relatively good, but the sudden shot in the temple in the middle stage is somewhat inappropriate in such an implicit story.
So on the whole, for a good emotional drama, the first is to follow the character's personality; the second is to grasp the degree of opening and closing, the gun is not essential oil, and sometimes taking a step back can make the work more memorable; the third is To create the right atmosphere, give people a daydream. Only when the audience's feelings are mobilized and the audience has their own associations can people remember it deeply. Leslie Cheung's "A Chinese Ghost Story" also portrays emotions well.
I give such a high evaluation to this movie, not only the emotional description of the two men and women is in place, but also each supporting role has its own unique character, such as the heroine's younger brother from the naughty bear child character when he appeared. , to the psychological growth of shopping malls after World War I, the whole process is complete.
The martial arts section. Director Yuan Kui himself is one of the Seven Little Fortunes. His martial arts instruction style tends to be fast-paced, exaggerated, flexible and elegant while punching to the flesh, and the action design is clean and neat. The villain, Zou Zhaolong, is ruthless and only wants revenge for his younger brother. There is almost no other emotional description. It can be said to be very thin, but thin has the advantage of being thin, which makes the duel between the two free from other emotional factors and maintains the purity and clarity of martial arts. the main line.
Since this article mainly wants to express the development process of the character's character, I won't go into too many other details, such as the right background music and the explosive head-pressing action. These factors are the "heroes" that push the work to the status of classics.
I've always thought that a good movie doesn't have to have a complicated story, a deep thought, or a novel way of shooting. The works that can mobilize the audience's feelings are really good works. For this point, you can refer to the works of some editors at station B. The time is not long, but it can touch the audience's feelings. I think this is better than the high-cost TV series with dozens of episodes much more.
Finally, the film review ends with a classic line from the film:
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"National secret."
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