Today, I opened the hard disk and saw a long-lost movie "Dragon City New Moon", revisited it, and shared it with friends.
"Dragon City New Moon" movie poster (image from the Internet)
The film was co-produced by Hong Kong Yongsheng Entertainment Production Co., Ltd. and Tianjin Film Studio, with producer Xiang Huaqiang, producer Zhang Yimou, director Yang Fengliang, You Yong (now known as You Yongzhi) and Wu Qianlian, and was released in 1997.
Director Yang Fengliang emphasizes here that he was originally an assistant director of Zhang Yimou, and he worked together as early as Zhang Yimou's famous work "Red Sorghum", and later co-directed "Code Name Jaguar" and "Ju Dou" with Zhang Yimou, of which "Ju Dou" was also nominated for the 63rd Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The two masters involved in the creation of this film also have to say that the first is the director of photography Zhao Fei, who is in the same class as Zhang Yimou, the fifth generation, as a photographer, he has filmed films such as "The Great Eunuch Li Lianying", "The Big Red Lantern Hangs High", "Jing Ke Thorn Qin King", "Not Seen and Not Scattered", "Heaven and Earth Hero", "Mobile Phone", "The Sun Also Rises", "Let the Bullets Fly", "Taiping Wheel", "The Great Golden Robbery" and other films. The second is the music Zhao Jiping, who has composed music for works such as "Red Sorghum", "Ju Dou", "Qiu Ju Fights a Lawsuit", "Overlord Farewell", "Alive", "Journey to the West", etc.
This is a story about revenge, Jiang Lanjuan, played by Wu Qianlian, suffered a disaster on the day of marriage, and a gang of gunmen not only killed the Jiang family, but also burned the Jiang family's house, leaving Jiang Lanjuan alone. Jiang Lanjuan built a fake tomb for herself and embarked on the road of seeking revenge. After nine years of investigation, he finally learned that the enemy was the warlord Xiong Jinbiao, but it was not easy for a woman to get revenge, so he found the famous killer Li Qingyang (You Yong) in the jianghu. Li Qingyang was not moved by Jiang Lanjuan, who could make money for the purpose of making money, but as the year drew to a close, Li Qingyang moved his compassion and let Jiang Lanjuan wait in Longcheng as Mrs. Wang, and arranged for his sister-in-law to take care of him. Jiang Lanjuan learned from her sister-in-law that Xiong Jinbiao likes to watch dramas, and every year during the festival, she will invite the people to watch dramas, and Jiang Lanjuan feels that it is an opportunity to assassinate Xiong Jinbiao in a drama class performance, and she also took a shot. Li Qingyang also arrived in Longcheng as the treasurer of the king and promised to help Jiang Lanjuan get rid of Xiong Jinbiao. In fact, there is another hidden plot, Li Qingyang is to take other people's money to get rid of Xiong Jinbiao, and helping Jiang Lanjuan is just a pusher. Then the two formed a husband and wife file, trying to gain Xiong Jinbiao's trust and wait for the opportunity to kill him, but gradually, the two really fell in love...
Watching this movie reminds me of films such as "Red Sorghum" and "Big Red Lantern Hanging High", which have a unique fifth-generation director's style, stable cinematography, exquisite lighting, and desolate tone. The yellow land and red shirt are also in line with Zhang Yimou's temperament. Calm, repressed, restrained, is the tone of the film, but also the commercial film full of contemporary, the most precious part of the director, I think maybe the director of that era has more say.
The most eye-catching place in the film is the performance of Wu Qianlian, who has a natural bookish atmosphere, and under the seemingly waveless expression, there is the firmness and persistence of hidden hatred. She is somewhat out of place with the yellow earth, fresh, unworldly, elegant, like a woman sitting on the terrace of the Ten Mile Ocean, drinking coffee and staring at you. But perhaps it is this kind of temperament that can make you believe that Li Qingyang will fall in love with her. Whether it is the poor and stubborn Gu Manzhen in "Half Life", or the kind and playful Wangdi in "Dumb Guy Bai Shou", Wu Qianlian is just right.
Jiang Lanjuan, played by Wu Qianlian in "Dragon City First Moon"
The ending is indeed a little too idealistic, Jiang Lanjuan and Li Qingyang, who are carrying a deep hatred in the blood sea, mistakenly killed the young master of the Xiong family, but after being caught by Xiong Jinbiao, they were released by Xiong Jinbiao, on the grounds that the destruction of the Jiang family was the biggest mistake he made in his life, in order to atone for his sins. I think the director wants to leave a perfect ending for the audience, and it is also the romantic feelings of that generation of creators.
Here is a real historical incident, that is, the revenge of Shi Jianqiao, which tells the real incident of Shi Jianqiao's revenge for his father in 1935 and shooting the warlord Sun Chuanfang in the Buddhist Hall.
Gao Xin, the actor of the young master of the Xiong family, is the actor of Pi Dan in the popular drama "Breakout" some time ago, and he was a childish mess at that time.
Gao Xin in "Dragon City First Moon"