In 1987, a young screenwriter in the Hong Kong film industry transformed into a director, and opened his own film era with a nonsensical comedy "Fierce Ghost Bad Pavilion", he is Liu Zhenwei.
In the early 1990s, Liu Zhenwei's film road reached its peak, and classics such as "Gamble Saint", "92 Black Rose to Black Rose", and "East into West" also became the memory of a generation of Hong Kong films.
Between the popular careers, Liu Zhenwei also chose to set up a film company and start an independent business. At the end of 1992, Liu Zhenwei partnered with his good brother Wong Kar-wai to found "Zedong Production Co., Ltd." Classics such as "East Evil and West Poison", "Chongqing Forest", and "Spring Light" were also born.
Literary and art films are all applauded and not popular, and Wong Kar-wai's literary and artistic films are even worse. After the establishment of the company, many trophies were won, but the turnover was not optimistic. At the same time as the entrepreneurship was frustrated, Liu Zhenwei's road to directing also encountered twists and turns.
In 1993, Liu Zhenwei filmed the love movie "Heaven and Earth Long" for Andy Lau, which failed at the box office. In 1994, Liu Zhenwei filmed "Urban Love" for Dawn, and the box office broke again.
In 1995, Liu Zhenwei and Zhou Xingchi joined forces to create two parts of "Journey to the West", but the box office was still not ideal.
In the mid-to-late 1990s, the Hong Kong film market began to shrink rapidly. In order to stabilize his own box office base, in 1997, Liu Zhenwei, in partnership with two old friends Yuan Kui and Li Dawei, founded a film company called "Film Art Creation Library".
In 1998, Liu Zhenwei filmed the entrepreneurial work "Timeless Love" for the "Film Art Creation Library". However, after the release of this work, the box office was dismal, which directly destroyed the "film art creation library".
Successive box office failures have left Liu Zhenwei disheartened. After "Time to Love", Liu Zhenwei chose to quit the film industry and move to Canada, and since then he has faded out of the Chinese big screen.
Originally, Liu Zhenwei returned to Canada and lived a life away from the hustle and bustle of the film world. But one day in 2001, an old friend from Hong Kong visited him, breaking his peaceful and comfortable life. This old friend who suddenly visited was named Du Qifeng.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > Du Qifeng, who is in charge of "China Star"</h1>
At the end of the 90s, Du Qifeng and his "galaxy image" began to make a name for themselves in the Hong Kong film market. "The Birth of a Word", "Two Can Only Live One", "True Hero", "Very Sudden", "Dark Flower", "Gunfire", "Dark War" and other works have also captured the attention of a large number of fans.
Seeing that Du Qifeng's ability was so outstanding, Xiang Huaqiang also intended to include him under his command. In 2000, Du Qifeng was appointed by Xiang Huaqiang as the chief operating officer of "China Star". Du Qifeng, who is in a position of power, also decided to use the strength of the "Chinese star" to do a big job and save hong Kong films from danger.
After 2000, the Hong Kong film market was dismal. Du Qifeng decided: bring together those capable directors and screenwriters, set up a subsidiary of "China Star", use a large amount of funds to maintain the creation of these directors and screenwriters, and revitalize the glory of the era of Hong Kong films with excellent quality works.
Du Qifeng's idea won the support of Xiang Huaqiang. In 2000, "China Star" established a production company called "100 Years Of Film", and Xu Ke, Chen Jiashang, Lin Lingdong, Lin Chaoxian, Zhao Chongji, Qiu Litao, Liu Guochang, Liang Baijian, Ma Weihao and others also entered the "100 Years Film".
In 2001, Du Qifeng wanted to pull Liu Zhenwei into the banner of "One Hundred Years Film". At that time, the mainland film market was hugely profitable, and Du Qifeng intended to lead the "Chinese star" into the mainland, and Liu Zhenwei was a key to entering the mainland film market.
In the mid-1990s, Liu Zhenwei's "Journey to the West" broke through at the mainland box office, but after the new millennium, the film unexpectedly became popular in the mainland audience market, and Liu Zhenwei also became the most audience-based Hong Kong film director in the mainland market at that time.
There are audiences to have box office, for this reason, Du Qifeng specially went to Canada to invite Liu Zhenwei out of the mountains and make films.
Du Qifeng's intentions, Liu Zhenwei already knew. Because before Du Qifeng, Wong Kar-wai and Zhou Xingchi had already made two phone calls to Liu Zhenwei.
At first, Liu Zhenwei did not know that "Journey to the West" had become popular in the mainland. At the beginning, Wong Kar-wai called Liu Zhenwei to explain the news that "Journey to the West" had become popular in the mainland, and also urged Liu Zhenwei to return to the film world and get a good lottery.
After that, Zhou Xingchi called again and told Liu Zhenwei the news that "Journey to the West" had become popular, and also asked About Liu Zhenwei's physical condition.
Liu Zhenwei knew that these two friends of his were all in the Three Treasures Hall without incident. Under the careful questioning, Wang and Tuesday also expressed their thoughts.
Wong Kar-wai made "Fancy Years" in 2000, and as before, this work won many awards, but the box office was not very optimistic. Wong Kar-wai hoped that Liu Zhenwei would come out of the mountains and make a rescue work for himself.
And Zhou Xingchi also hopes to cooperate with Liu Zhenwei again, taking advantage of the popularity of "Journey to the West" to once again launch an impact on the mainland film market.
The front foot finished dealing with Wong Kar-wai and Zhou Xingchi, and the back foot came to Du Qifeng. They are all friends, and whoever has face has to give. Therefore, Liu Zhenwei filmed "Peerless in the World" for Wong Kar-wai and "Infinite Resurrection" for Du Qifeng, and he also cooperated with Chow Xingchi in "Kung Fu".
"Peerless in the World" and "Kung Fu" do not press the table, today we mainly talk about this "Infinite Resurrection" produced by "One Hundred Years Movie", produced by Du Qifeng and directed by Liu Zhenwei.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" > Liu Zhenwei's Infinite Resurrection </h1>
Speaking of this "Infinite Resurrection", we have to mention Director Liu Zhenwei's masterpiece "Journey to the West".
"Journey to the West" failed miserably at the mainland box office that year, but in Hong Kong, the film still entered the top ten of the annual box office list with the influence of Stephen Chow. After the film was released, there were often viewers who asked Liu Zhenwei, at the end of the movie, who were the samurai and girls at the head of the city? In the desert, why did the Supreme Treasure and Sun Wukong appear at the same time?
Liu Zhenwei believes that these problems will arise because he did not make up well when he was writing the screenplay. In order to give a more reasonable explanation for the crossing story, after Liu Zhenwei came out of the mountain, he filmed the crossover film "Infinite Resurrection" for the "One Hundred Years Movie".
The "logical legacy problems" that are not clearly stated in "Journey to the West", Liu Zhenwei gives a unified answer in this work.
First of all, the story of "Infinite Resurrection" revolves around the "casino dealer" Ah Ren played by Zheng Yijian.
Two years ago, Ah Ren went to a high-end "casino" in Las Vegas to apply for a dealership, but he was not hired, and he entered a "casino" in Macau to work.
After working here for half a year, Aren won for half a year in a row and did not lose a game. Seeing that he was "gambling on luck", Aren wanted to go to Las Vegas to "gamble" a big one. However, his good friend "Ah Xing" (played by Guan Jiwei) advised him to restrain his "gambling nature" and take care of his family.
Ah Xing is the accountant of the "casino", he and Aren are good buddies who grew up together, and Aren works as a dealer in the "casino", and Ah Xing also helps to introduce him.
During the "casino" work, Ah Ren met his girlfriend "Baby", and now that the "Baby" is pregnant, Ah Ren also decided to marry the baby, curb the "gambling sex" and return to the family.
However, on the night of "Christmas Eve", the baby proposed to Ah Ren to break up, and at this moment Ah Ren knew that the child in the baby's belly was someone else's.
Christmas "casino" put two days off, lovelorn Aren, want to go to Las Vegas to gamble, but Las Vegas high-end VIP private room, need a million dollars to start the chip.
Ah Ren thinks that he is "gambling on luck" and will win this time, so he convinces Ah Xing to steal a million dollars from the boss's safe. The Christmas boss is out on vacation and can't come back until the 27th, and Aren thinks there won't be a problem with putting the money back in the safe before the boss returns.
After planning everything, Ah Ren and Ah Xing flew to Las Vegas at twelve o'clock at noon on the 25th.
In Las Vegas, Ah Xing played a few games at the "small gambling table" on the periphery. Ah Ren entered the VIP private room alone and won for 4 hours in a row. In order to deal with Aren, the "casino" found the best dealer in Las Vegas, this dealer worked in Las Vegas for 7 years, won for 7 consecutive years, and everyone called him a brother.
After the brother came on the field, he made a provocation to Aren. Driven by self-esteem, Ah Ren chose a stud to frustrate the sharpness of a brother, but as a result, Ah Ren lost.
After losing all the chips, Ah Ren and Ah Xing drank in the streets of Las Vegas, and the two did not know how to explain to the boss after returning.
Just as Ah Ren and Ah Xing were worried, a car stopped in front of the two people, and a sexy dressed woman stepped down from the car, this woman was named Anna.
Anna recognizes Ah Xing, and she says that she is going to Los Angeles, and if she goes along, she can take the two of them.
It turned out that Ah Xing knew Anna when he bet on the "small gambling table" on the periphery. Anna lost several games in a row, and Ah Xing told Anna a small secret to betting. With this little secret, Anna won a lot of money. To thank Ah Xing, Anna decided to send the two to Los Angeles.
Passing a restaurant on the way, the three of them got out of the car and ate something. At this time, Ah Xing went to the bathroom, while Anna and Ah Ren chatted idly.
To show her gratitude, Anna decided to give a pair of pendants to Ah Xing. Anna said that the pendant is called "back stone", which is said to allow different time and space to connect with each other, and the holder of the pendant can also take the opportunity to travel through time and space.
Ah Xing went to the toilet for a long time and did not come back. Ah Ren went to the toilet to find Ah Xing, and Anna also went to the counter to check out.
In the toilet, Ah Ren discovers Ah Xing's secret. It turned out that Ah Xing's "sexual orientation" was not the same as that of ordinary people. At this time, Ah Ren understood why Ah Xing was willing to "steal money and gamble" with himself.
Ah Ren regards Ah Xing as a good brother, and in Ah Xing's heart, Ah Ren is more than just a "good brother". The sudden change made It difficult for Ah Ren to accept. Ah Xing left the toilet, while Ah Ren stayed in the toilet, trying to calm down.
In the toilet, Arren heard the voice of a man outside, and this man was talking about Anna. Ah Ren walked out of the toilet and came to check it out, but found that there was no one outside the toilet.
Ah Xing, Aren, and Anna left the bar and drove to Los Angeles. A traffic accident occurred on the road, Ah Xing and Anna died in an accident, and Ah Ren was in a coma for two days due to a head injury.
After waking up, Ah Ren was interrogated by the "police". The "police" tell Aren that Anna died in a car accident, but Ah Xing was hit in the back of the head by a blunt object and died. Anna had $1.5 million in cash on her car, but now that money is gone. The "police" suspect that there is another hidden plot behind the car accident.
However, because of the blow to the head, Aren could not remember the specific circumstances of the night of the accident, so he could not provide any clues.
Aren left Las Vegas and returned to Macau. After returning home, Aren opened the recording of the phone call at home, and found that at two o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th, there was a strange number and made a call to himself.
On the phone, a stranger told Ah Ren not to go to Las Vegas to "gamble money", otherwise he would encounter a car accident and Ah Xing would die because of the brain injury.
Arren dialed back at the phone number and found it to be a public phone in a Bar in Las Vegas. While sorting out his luggage, Ah Ren found that the "back stone" that Anna gave to Ah Xing was actually in his suitcase. Why the "back stone" was in his own hands, Ah Ren couldn't think of anything.
Faced with many doubts, Ah Ren decided to return to Las Vegas to find out the "truth" of Ah Xing's death.
Based on the phone number, Arren found the bar in Las Vegas. In the bar, Aren asked the boss about a phone call on the afternoon of the 25th. The boss said that the phone call was made by Ah Ren to the boss.
The boss's words surprised Aren. Because of these things, he didn't remember at all.
Las Vegas "female police officer" Li Tianna (played by Cecilia Cheung) launched an investigation into this "car accident case". Li Tianna found that Ah Ren and Ah Xing embezzled the company's public funds to "gamble money" in Las Vegas, and also lost "public funds". She believes that this "car accident" may be related to the "embezzlement" of the two, so she plans to investigate Ah Ren.
At the gas station, Li Tianna and Aren meet, Li Tianna wants to take Aren back for questioning, Ah Ren is worried about the "embezzlement" incident, and tries to escape. In the panic, Ah Ren and Li Tianna caused a car accident because of the dispute.
At this time, the "back stone" suddenly emitted a bright light, reversing time and space. Aren and Li Tianna also accidentally crossed back to the 25th. As Aren crosses over, the truth of the car accident is also revealed little by little.
The most brilliant part of this "Infinite Resurrection" is the design of the story structure. All the details laid out in the first half of the film are clearly responded to in the plot of the second half. Even the infidelity of Aren's girlfriend has become an important foreshadowing of the plot of the second half of the story.
Here, the author will not make too many spoilers for the plot, interested friends, you can enjoy this "Infinite Resurrection", the clever story layout in the movie, will definitely not let you down.
It is worth mentioning that in Liu Zhenwei's film works, spoofing Wong Kar-wai has always been a "traditional project". In this "Infinite Resurrection", Liu Zhenwei made a prank on Wong Kar-wai's "Fancy Years". In the movie, the emotional relationship between Aren and his girlfriend baby, Li Tianna and her fiancé perfectly reproduces the Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen couples in "Fancy Years".
In addition to spoofing Wong Kar-wai, Liu Zhenwei also ridiculed Du Qifeng's work in this "Infinite Resurrection". In 2001, Du Qifeng's "SlimMing Men and Women" won the annual Hong Kong film box office champion. In the 2002 "Infinite Resurrection", Liu Zhenwei also came to a plot design of "turning grief into appetite".
When filming "Infinite Resurrection", Du Qifeng hoped to use Liu Zhenwei's popularity at that time to push his works into the mainland film market. And Liu Zhenwei also sensed that at this time, Hong Kong film producers were eager to "enter the mainland film market".
According to Liu Zhenwei's own description, when he returned to the film industry and returned to the set, everyone looked at him strangely, just like the "second boss" in "Journey to the West".
Du Qifeng had high hopes for Liu Zhenwei, and Liu Zhenwei also spent a lot of thought in this "Infinite Resurrection". However, the box office performance of the film after its release was not optimistic.
In 2002, "Infinite Resurrection" only achieved a box office performance of more than 4 million in the Hong Kong film market. In the mainland, the film failed to enter the theater market, only released in the form of discs, and the market response was very flat, and eventually the pearl was dusted and buried by the times.
2002 is an important time node on Liu Zhenwei's film road. Returning to the film industry, he launched two classic works in this year, one is "Infinite Resurrection" and the other is "Peerless in the World".
"Infinite Resurrection" was buried by the times, but "Peerless in the World" achieved quite good market results. After these two works, Liu Zhenwei began to march into the mainland film market, and his film talent seems to have been exhausted in the creation of "Infinite Resurrection" and "Unparalleled in the World".
After entering the mainland film market, the quality of Liu Dao's works was not as good as one, and works such as "Love Epilepsy", "Mechanical Man", "Yueguang Treasure Box", "Izumi Furong", "Big Talk Heavenly Immortal", "Fairy Ball War" and other works also plunged him into the "swamp of rotten films".
2002's "Infinite Resurrection" and "Peerless in the World" seem to have also ended the final curtain for Liu Zhenwei's film era.