Before the "prairie men" Tu left, after the "Thunder Tiger" Chen Songyong died, many familiar old drama bones have gone to another world.
"Thunder Tiger" Zhongyong Bo, with a sentence of "subduing people with virtue", has been remembered to this day, and the hearty laughter and joyful expression are no longer there.
The line "Serve people with virtue" comes from the 1993 movie "Fang Shiyu", a classic Hong Kong martial arts film, jet Li's Zhengdong Film Company masterpiece, today take this opportunity to understand the story behind the scenes of the movie.
01. Zhengdong Film Company
When Jet Li first arrived in Hong Kong, David Luo acted as his agent, signed a contract with Jiahe Film Company, cooperated with Xu Ke, and starred in the "Wong Fei Hung" series, which became famous in one fell swoop.
Originally Jet Li and Jiahe signed a contract for 2 years, made 4 movies according to the regulations, 2 years came, the film was not fully filmed, the two sides continued to renew the contract, but Jiahe has been in arrears with the previous 3 million film remuneration.
Jet Li, as a mainlander, has no roots in Hong Kong, plus his agent David Luo and a nostril of Jiahe Company, it is even more difficult for him to get back the film remuneration.
At a loss, Cai Ziming came and gave Li Lianming an idea to quit filming "Huang Feihong 2 Boys As Self-Reliant" and serve as his new agent.
Cai Ziming He Xuren, a big man who returned from the Netherlands, wanted to develop in the Hong Kong film circle, and set up a rich film company with film critic Shu Qi, which was more luxurious.
Jet Li boycotted the shooting, Jiahe side at first wanted to find someone to replace Jet Li, but tried a lot of people, could not achieve the effect of Jet Li, and finally under the efforts of Wu Siyuan, Xu Ke and others, the two sides reached an agreement, please return jet Li to continue shooting.
The incident of "Huang Feihong 2" came to an end, and Cai Ziming, as Jet Li's new agent, was ready to tailor a martial arts film "New Dragon Gate Inn" for him.
On the other hand, Wu Siyuan and Xu Ke also wanted to make "New Dragon Gate Inn", but Cai Ziming's background was mysterious, and most Hong Kong filmmakers at that time were in awe of him.
Seeing that Cai Ziming has found a good actor for "New Dragon Gate Inn", Jet Li played Zhou Huai'an, Yang Ziqiong played Qiu Moyan, and Mo Shaocong played Cao Shaoqin, and took a makeup photo.
Wu Siyuan's side could only be in a hurry, but soon after, things reversed, and Cai Ziming was killed.
In this way, Jet Li's version of "New Dragon Gate Inn" could not start filming, and Wu Siyuan and Xu Ke immediately started the project, so there was this monumental work of martial arts films.
Jet Li experienced a series of events such as the strike of "Huang Feihong 2", the lawsuit with David Luo, and the murder of Cai Ziming, and deeply felt the horror of the entertainment industry.
But at the same time, he also understood his own value, so with the persuasion and help of Taiwan's provincial showbiz tycoon Yang Dengkui, he and veteran filmmaker Cui Baozhu formally established the "Zhengdong Film Company" in 1992.
"Zhengdong" first entrepreneurial work is "Fang Shiyu", at that time many people hoped that Jet Li's company died, they felt that he could only play Huang Feihong, could not control the young and lively Fang Shiyu, but he succeeded, in 1993, the two "Fang Shiyu" sold a total of more than 53 million Hong Kong dollars, and hit some people in the face.
"Zhengdong Film Company" became famous from this, and the films produced later were also high-quality, such as "Taiji Zhang Sanfeng", "Jingwu Hero", "Zhongnanhai Bodyguard" and so on.
02. Wenwu combination: Yuan Kui and Liu Zhenwei
Jet Li worked as a director in 1986 and made a "Chinese Hero", but the box office and word of mouth were decent, so he opened his own company as the boss and never interfered with the director's work.
At first, he wanted to invite Xu Anhua as a director, Yuankui as an action director, and then Xu Anhua had no time, only served as the planner of the film, and Yuankui directly promoted to director, and found his own disciple Yuande to help design the action, the two also won the Academy Award for Best Action Director, that year's "Huang Feihong 3", "Young Huang Feihong's Iron Horse", "Serious Case Team" and "Three Heroes of the East" all lost to them.
Jet Li's enthusiasm, won the dedication of Yuankui, for this he also found an old friend Liu Zhenwei to help write the script, Liu Zhenwei was helping Wong Kar-wai to fight the fire, filming "East into the West", but Yuankui opened his mouth, he could not refuse, so he took advantage of the gap time of "East into the West" to change the scenery and set up the shed, hid in the hotel for 5 days, and completed the script.
"Fang Shiyu" has 3 screenwriters, namely Liu Zhenwei, Chen Jianzhong and Cai Kangyong, we can see from the movie that many bridges are from Liu Zhenwei's handwriting, such as Li Xiaohuan falling in love with Fang Dayu played by Xiao Fangfang, Lei Laohu's "serving people with virtue" and so on.
YuanKui and Liu Zhenwei, this pair of cultural relics, has never disappointed, from the "Corpse Heavy Land" to the "Gamble Saint" popular Zhou Xingchi, to help Andy Lau, Jet Li to start a business, the two of them are classics, called the best partner.
And Yuan Kui and Jet Li have this pleasant cooperation, followed by "Fang Shiyu 2", "Zhongnanhai Bodyguard", "Letter to Daddy", "Rats and Dragons", "New Shaolin Five Ancestors" and other works, and even later broke into Hollywood together, creating "Cosmic Pursuit Order", "Ranger", "Daredevil" and other films.
Why the two people can cooperate for so long, Yuan Kui gave the answer, he said jet Li is very smart in the scene, you say he understands, cooperation is very tacit understanding. And Yuan Heping also commented that Jet Li is like a kung fu dictionary and understands everything.
03. Mainland filmmakers joined
Jet Li himself as the lead actor, but also to have a good opponent, so Yuan Kui went to the mainland to choose martial arts actors, in the Beijing Institute of Physical Education at a glance to meet Zhao Wenzhuo, the vision can be described as poisonous.
Zhao Wenzhuo's newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, and jet Li has not fallen behind in the slightest, and so far the chin looks at people, and the heroic and extraordinary Nine Gate Admiral is still the classic image of Zhao Wenzhuo.
In fact, before Yuankui, Zhao Wenzhuo was selected by Hong Jinbao to star in "A Knife to the City", but he dragged on too long and was dug into a corner by Yuankui.
Later, Zhao Wenzhuo was favored by Xu Ke in the "Fang Shiyu" crew, succeeding Li Lian to play "Huang Feihong 4", and then slowly gained a foothold in the Hong Kong film industry.
In addition to Zhao Wenzhuo, there are several mainland actors in "Fang Shiyu" who also contributed wonderful performances, such as Guo Tao, who appeared at the beginning, and Fang Shiyu competed in sports projects.
Erbao, played by Sun Chenxi, was invited by Xu Anhua to participate in "Book Of Swords and Enmity", and later starred in the image of a young hero many times in "Sinister Jianghu Runaway Sword", "Flying God Mouse" and "Pretty Luocheng", which can be described as a hit.
Yu Liwen, the actor of the Qianlong Emperor, is an old drama bone, who has participated in Li Hanxiang's "Hanging Curtains and Listening to the Government" and "A Generation of Demon Queens", but everyone is most familiar with Yu Shilong of "Kangxi Micro Service Private Interview".
Luo Bing, who was misunderstood by Miao Cuihua, played by Liu Hongmei, is a professor at the Central Academy of Drama and has also played the sister of the eunuch Liu Jin in "Taiji Zhang Sanfeng".
Lei Tiger's master plays Liu Jinshan, a national first-class actor, full of comedy, and Yang Qing, played by Lei Tingting's beard, is also good at acting in some comedy works.
The most surprising thing is Pan Yueming, who plays the small house in lei tiger house, if you don't wear a magnifying glass, it is really difficult to recognize.
Similarly, there are many mainland actors in "Fang Shiyu 2", such as Wang Quanyou, played by Ding Wei in "Bright Sword", Liu Changsheng, a fortune teller, Wang Qian, "China's first police flower", and Fan Zhiqi, played by Jiang Wei in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
04. Deceased filmmaker
In addition to the above-mentioned "Thunder Tiger" Chen Songyong and Qianlong actor Yu Liwen is gone, two other filmmakers in "Fang Shiyu" have also died, namely producer Cui Baozhu and Fang Shiyu's follower Chen Long.
Cui Baozhu was once regarded by Jet Li as an "important woman in life", without her, there may not have been the later "Zhengdong Film Company".
As a gold-medal producer, her ability is beyond doubt, in addition to a series of classic works by Zhengdong Film Company, she also participated in the production of Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Chow Sing Chi's "Kung Fu" and "Yangtze River Seven", and is a well-known strong woman in the Hong Kong film industry.
It also won the "Outstanding Contribution Award for Chinese Cinema" at the 10th Macao International Film Festival, but unfortunately 2019 is gone.
Chen Long, the name may not be familiar to everyone, but he is an indispensable and important supporting role in Hong Kong films, from Bruce Lee films, to Hong Jinbao Jackie Chan films, to Jet Li Films, he has been involved.
In the genre of psychic action movies, he left many classic roles, such as the bad Taoist in "Ghost Fighting Ghosts", the zombies in "African Monk", and the "Shoubo" in "Spirit Supreme".
In addition, the cooperation with Yuan Biao is also more tacit, "Loser Boy" is still a small follower, and became a master in "Six Finger Piano Demon", but has a bad habit and likes to be late.
Chen Long has been in the shadows for many years, but unfortunately he is gone in October this year, which is extremely nostalgic.
"Fang Shiyu" has been rated as one of the "19 best kung fu films in history", which is a classic that cannot be tired of watching, but also misses Chen Long and "Thunder Tiger" Chen Songyong, and misses the once brilliant Hong Kong films. (Written by: The Little Prince)