In the last issue, we talked about director Ma Dangxiong's famous film industry "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier". In 1984, the release of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier" not only made Ma Dangxiong and "McDonald Production Company" famous in the film world, but also opened the prelude to the era of realistic police gangster Hong Kong films.
In 1984, the bandit "Wu Jiandong" was killed in a police round-up operation. Based on this real event, Ma Dangxiong filmed the movie "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier". In 1985, another bandit leader, Chen Huji, was also arrested by the police.
After the great success of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier", Ma Dangxiong immediately decided to put the story of "Chen Huji" on the screen, and planned to shoot "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2". Today, we will talk about this film, which was released in 1987, and finally completed the production after several twists and turns, and let Xu Jinjiang become famous in the film industry's "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2: Soldiers Divided into Two Roads".
"Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2: Soldiers Divided into Two Roads" is based on the real events of the bandit "Chen Huji". In May 1985, during the robbery in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, led by the bandit "Chen Hujie", he was discovered by the police and surrounded. In the face of the police arrest, "Chen Hujie" struggled to resist, and finally went away with the stolen goods, causing the casualties of 7 police officers.
The arrogance of "Chen Huji" has aroused great public opinion. In order to calm public opinion, the Hong Kong police used undercover infiltration work and finally arrested "Chen Huji" in September 1985.
After "Chen Huji" was arrested, Ma Dangxiong came up with the idea of filming "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2". In 1985, Ma Dangxiong received the attention of many investors because of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier". At this time, the "Chen Huju case" has been hotly discussed, and it is a good opportunity to hit iron while it is hot.
As a result, Ma Dangxiong successfully obtained the shooting funds, and with the support of "Jiahe Film", prepared and filmed "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2".
Although it has received funds and the support of blockbusters like "Jiahe", the filming of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" has encountered a major problem, that is, "can't find actors".
During the filming of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier", in order to pursue the real effect, Ma Dangxiong often engaged in "surprise attacks" without notifying the actors. For example, without the actor's knowledge, let him stand next to the "explosion point" to capture the real "panic scene". The actor is not told to set fire suddenly, in order to shoot a real "fear expression".
Although such an "unexpected" approach has achieved unexpected results, the actors are very dissatisfied with McDonald.com. "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier" not only allowed Ma Dangxiong to win the trophy of "Golden Horse Award for Best Director", but also let his "excessive shooting methods" spread throughout the Hong Kong film industry.
In 1985, when Ma Dangxiong planned to shoot "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2", many actors were very jealous of his shooting methods and were reluctant to appear in this work. In the past, the filming was all scripts and actors in place, but there was a lack of funds. Now the funds, scripts, and film companies are in place, but there is a lack of actors, which makes Ma Dangxiong unexpected.
In order to reassure the actors, Ma Dangxiong gave up his position as director and only participated in the preparation and behind-the-scenes production of the film as a producer. And the work of the director was also handed over to his younger brother McDonald.
Although Ma Dangxiong handed over the directorship, there are still many actors who are full of concerns about this "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2". In order to start shooting as soon as possible, Ma Dangxiong and Ma Dangjie decided to use new actors who dared to take over the scene. Such a move also laid the groundwork for Xu Jinjiang's film fame.
As early as the early 1980s, Xu Jinjiang began to enter the Hong Kong film industry. However, in the early days, he has always been a dragon set actor running between various crews. During the filming of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2", Xu Jinjiang's fierce appearance attracted the attention of Ma Dangxiong. Faced with the dilemma of "no one dares to act", Ma Dangxiong decided to use newcomer Xu Jinjiang to serve as the male protagonist of the film. And Xu Jinjiang also firmly grasped this opportunity.
In "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2", the two brothers, Madon-hung and Madon-Jay, did not blindly imitate the story structure of the previous work and shoot it, but instead played the routine of the "McGuffin" movie.
Although "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" is based on the "Chen Huju Case", the character of "Chen Huju" in this work does not appear clearly. The film features three undercover policemen, and gradually shows the appearance of the "Chen Huju case" through their search for the gangster "Ah Hu" and the descriptions of "Ah Hu" by others.
Although "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" has been in preparation since 1985, after experiencing "actor storms" and "director changes", the film was not officially released until 1987. After the film was released, it was loved and praised by many fans. Xu Jinjiang has also been favored by many Hong Kong film directors with his outstanding performance in the film.
It is worth mentioning that the director who is interested in the "Chen Huju case" is not only Ma Dangxiong. In 1987, Lin Lingdong and Zhou Runfa collaborated on "Dragon and Tiger Storm", the story of this work is also based on "Chen Huju Case", and the "Tiger Brother" played by Li Xiuxian in the film is based on "Chen Huju".
The same are all undercover police films, the same are realistic themes, the same are released in 1987, Chow Yun-fat's "Dragon and Tiger Storm" also through a small detail, to Xu Jinjiang's "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" a tribute.
At the beginning of "Dragon and Tiger Storm", Zhou Runfa's boss went to the funeral of an undercover colleague, and it was Xu Jinjiang who played the undercover who died in the line of duty. At the end of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2", Xu Jinjiang also died in a firefight with bandits precisely because his undercover identity was exposed.
Stills from "Dragon and Tiger Storm"
"Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" and "Dragon and Tiger Storm" have been released in 1987, and "Dragon and Tiger Storm" has achieved more than 19 million box office results by virtue of Zhou Runfa's box office appeal. Although the box office performance of "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" is far less than that of "Dragon and Tiger Storm", in the development process of undercover police and gangster Hong Kong films, "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" has its own unique significance of the times.
In "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2", the two brothers, Ma Dangxiong and Mai Dangjie, with a tragic story style, pioneered the theme of the police film "Undercover Must Die", which gave a unique tragic color to the undercover police film.
And this tragic undercover police film style has also been borrowed and used by many directors after it. Whether it is Zhou Runfa in "Dragon and Tiger Storm" or Liang Chaowei in "Infernal Affairs", at the end of the story, it is difficult to escape the "fate of death".
At the end of the 1980s, box office competition in the Hong Kong film market became increasingly fierce. Although this "Provincial Hong Kong Flag Soldier 2" created a precedent for a tragic undercover police film, after its release in 1987, the work faced the box office competition of Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan and Hong Jinbao, and was quickly overwhelmed by the popularity of works such as "Brother Dragon and Tiger Brother", "Plan A Sequel", "Prison Storm", "Oriental Condor" and other works, becoming a buried classic.