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Hong Kong director Hu Jinquan is widely regarded as the founding father of the new school of martial arts films.
He is one of the few Chinese directors recognized and concerned by the world film industry, and in 1978, the British "International Film Guide" listed him as one of the "world's top five directors".
Hu Jinquan is internationally recognized because he made the internationally renowned "Heroine" during his time at Federation Pictures.
In May 1975, the 3-hour version of "Heroine" won the Technical Award and the nomination for the Palme d'Or For Best Picture at the 28th Cannes Film Festival, which made Hu Jinquan receive international attention.
This work adapted from the classic "Chivalrous Girl" of "Liaozhai Zhiyi" not only let the world see the chivalrous spirit of Chinese martial arts films, but also let the world know the profound cultural connotations infiltrated in Hu Jinquan's films. Among them, the unique costumes, the almost harsh oil painting composition, and the realistic action drama choreography are all breathtaking.
The unique feature of director Hu Jinquan is his dedication and seriousness to the film.
In his lifetime, he directed only 16 films, of which less than 10 were martial arts subjects, but each one was a meticulously crafted work of art. As the crowning work of Hu Jinquan's martial arts films, "Chivalrous Girl" took 4 years to shoot.
Such a long shooting process is a kind of torment for everyone in the crew, and the behind-the-scenes stories they experience are just as wonderful as the movie.
01、
As a film adapted from "Chat Zai Zhiyi: Heroine", this film is actually very loyal to the original in terms of setting.
Let's look at the story first -
The film takes place during the Ming Dynasty. In Huaiyuan County, there is a poor talent Gu Shengzhai (played by Shi Jun), because he feels that the eunuchs in the DPRK have the monopoly of power, they are reluctant to be officials in the scientific examination, and only open a calligraphy and painting shop, sell paintings for a living, and serve their elderly mothers at home.
Gu Shengzhai lived in a deserted abandoned fort in the suburbs because of his family's poverty, and the reeds in the middle of the path in front of the door were one person high.
The surrounding area of the Gu family was originally uninhabited, and a mother and daughter actually lived in the abandoned Zhenyuan General's Mansion one day. Because his daughter Yang Zhiyun (played by Xu Feng) is deeply loved by Gu Mother, the two families quickly become familiar with each other and often have contacts on weekdays.
Gu Mu intended to propose to the Yang family, but was rejected by Yang Zhiyun. However, Yang Zhiyun was suddenly cold and hot to Gu Shengzhai and had asked him to meet secretly, but when he met him during the day, he was always cold as frost.
After further contact, Gu Shengzhai discovers that Yang Zhiyun is pregnant with world-class martial arts and lives here to avoid disasters, and the blind fortune teller Shi Qingqiao (played by White Eagle) and the doctor Lu Ding'an (played by Xue Han) on the street are her helpers.
In fact, Yang Zhiyun's original name was Yang Huizhen, and she was the daughter of Yang Lian, the left deputy capital. His father was killed by the Jinyi wei commander Menda (Played by Wang Rui) for impeaching the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, and the Yang family was also beheaded by the full door, and only Yang Huizhen was rescued by two generals, Shi Wenqiao and Lu Ding'an.
On the way to escape, Yang Huizhen was given the opportunity to learn exquisite martial arts for two years by the Zen monk Hui Yuan (played by Qiao Hong).
At this time, Dongchang Qianhu Ouyang Nian (played by Tian Peng) came to Huaiyuan County in order to hunt down Yang Huizhen, and after Gu Shengzhai learned of Yang Huizhen's death, he decided to use what he had learned in his life to help Yang Huizhen fight off Ouyang Nian and negotiate with Dongchang.
So Gu Shengzhai used a plan to set up an ambush in the bamboo forest, and after a big battle, successfully killed Ouyang Nian.
Later, Gu Shengzhai also used Ouyang Nian's official seal to write a letter in the name of Ouyang Nian to lure Mengda, who led hundreds of Jinyi guards to Huaiyuan County, to the abandoned Tun Fort.
Gu Shengzhai used what he had learned in his life to set up a lot of organs in the Abandoned Tun Fort, and Menda and a group of Jinyi guards fell into a trap when they came to the fort, and were annihilated by all the staff.
Yang Huizhen stabbed her father's enemy Menda, and after the revenge was repaid, she was already satisfied, and she decided to live in seclusion in the mountains and continue to follow master HuiYuan's asceticism.
Gu Huizhen was not in love and searched for the mountain, but Yang Huizhen avoided seeing it, and only asked the monk on the mountain to hand over a baby boy to Gu Shengzhai, which turned out to be the flesh and bones that Yang Huizhen had born for Gu Shengzhai.
The newly awarded Jin Yi Wei Bei Zhen Fu Si Xu Xianchun (played by Han Yingjie) is ordered to capture Shi Wenqiao and Yang Huizhen. He came to the mountain with his two sons and the jinyi guards, and after a big battle, he was unable to succeed due to the obstruction of Master Huiyuan.
The cunning Xu Xianchun also pretended to see through the red dust and was willing to take refuge in Buddhism, but when Master Huiyuan was soft-hearted, he made a secret calculation, resulting in Master Huiyuan being seriously injured.
However, Xu Xianchun was also hit by a large handprint of Master Huiyuan, causing him to hallucinate and fall off a cliff and fall to his death after accidentally killing his two sons.
Golden blood flowed from Master Hui Yuan's severely injured abdomen, and he had cultivated to the right fruit, and finally died in the sunset. Shi Qianqiao and Yang Huizhen flew away with their scars on their bodies, and never asked about the jianghu from then on.
02、
The lens of Master Huiyuan's death, just facing the sunset behind him, shows the wonders of the Buddha's light, which is very shocking.
In that era when there were no CG special effects, these shots needed to be shot live, and Hu Jinquan waited for 7 days for this shot, which only had a few seconds.
Not only that, the three antique streets that appear in the film, with hundreds of old houses, are brick by brick.
This alone involved more than 1,200 technicians, cost NT$14 million (nearly HK$3.8 million), and took nine months to build.
Hu Jinquan's control of the Costume Dao is also extremely strict, and the clothes worn and the utensils used by the characters in the film are all in line with the style of the Ming Dynasty.
For the requirements of the actors themselves, Hu Jinquan is more serious and serious, and never reduces the requirements because of the fame of the actors themselves. It is said that after Xu Feng received the role of Yang Huizhen, her heart was more afraid than happy, and she knew what kind of challenge she was facing.
The film was filmed for 4 years, just like going to a 4-year college, during which the actors of the whole group were scolded, and the first year was scolded the most fiercely.
In order to save costs, the actors also have to be behind the scenes, Shi Jun is the assistant to the director group, White Eagle manages the equipment in the lighting group, and Xu Feng is responsible for creating smoke effects in the props group.
In terms of playing, because Zhan Yuan's son-in-law Han Yingjie was responsible, he also starred in the big boss Xu Xianchun at the end of the film.
Through the recommendation of Han Yingjie, young martial artists such as Hong Jinbao, Jackie Chan, Wu Mingcai, Lin Zhengying and other young martial artists were able to participate in the film, and "Heroine" is also a work that they still feel proud of.
Among them, as a master brother, Hong Jinbao, who has a more outstanding image, naturally gets more scenes.
He plays one of Xu Xianchun's sons, who has a fight with the two protagonists and is not yet behind.
Although this role does not even have lines, it still allows people in the circle to see his correctional hands, and the image of "flexible fat man" has gradually taken shape.
Later, Hong Jinbao led the disciples to Jiahe, met Bruce Lee and was reused, and slowly developed into the mainstay of Jiahe.
Another, Lin Zhengying, once became Bruce Lee's right and left hand, and was placed with great trust. After Bruce Lee's death, he opened the zombie film era with the help of Hong Jinbao.
Hu Jinquan's requirements for playing are also very strict, each action must be filmed dozens of times, and the post-editing is also done by Hu Jinquan himself. The bamboo forest duel scene is the essence of the whole film, although it is only 10 minutes of scene, it took 25 days to shoot.
03、
Hu Jinquan is a very self-centered person, he only cares about himself to work hard, in order to make every shot perfect, the shooting cycle continues to lengthen, and more than 3 years have passed.
However, the top management of the federal film industry has long been intolerable, and they have asked Hu Jinquan to rush to release "Heroine" in the summer of 1970.
Fast forward to 1970, under the huge pressure of the company, Hu Jinquan had to make concessions and edit some of the shots that had been filmed into a "Heroine (Part I)".
Due to the incomplete story of the film, it did not cause much repercussions after it was released in Taiwan on July 10, 1970.
It wasn't until February 1970 that the film was actually filmed.
Hu Jinquan cut another full version, which was released in Hong Kong on November 18, 1971, and only grossed HK$680,000 for two weeks. The Taiwanese version of "Heroine" was not released in Taiwan until May 3, 1973, but the box office still did not improve.
Hu Jinquan was not willing to see his painstaking work buried like this, and in the case of federal pictures refusing to fund, he still went to Cannes at his own expense with a 3-hour re-cut version, and finally made a splash at the 28th Cannes Film Festival, which made Hu Jinquan raise his eyebrows.
Later, "Heroine" and Hu Jinquan's "Storm of Yingchun Pavilion" and "Zhonglietu" filmed in Jiahe were invited to participate in the New York International Film Festival in the United States and the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, and were released in Turku, Finland, West Germany and France, and finally recovered the cost after twists and turns.
This 3-hour synthetic version was finally repaired through Xu Feng's efforts, and the world also glimpsed the classics of "Chivalrous Girl".
Although the film story is taken from "Liaozhai Zhiyi: A Heroine", it has made a comprehensive adaptation of the characters and story, adding the creation belonging to Hu Jinquan himself, giving the spirit of ancient Chinese culture.
Pi Ge also read "Liaozhai Zhiyi" and was deeply impressed by "Chivalrous Girl".
According to archaeological research, some experts believe that the story is related to the folklore of the assassination of the Manchu Emperor Yongzheng, and the prototype of the heroine in the story is Lü Siniang, the granddaughter of Lü Liuliang, a beginner in the late Ming and Qing dynasties.
However, the film grafts the story of "Chivalrous Girl" into the struggle between the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and the officials of the Donglin Party during the Ming Dynasty, and it has become a drama of folk chivalry and the Jinyi guards in the DPRK.
Wei Zhongxian, Menda, Xu Xianchun, Yang Lian and others are all real characters in history, and the fictional stories overlap with the real history, making it difficult for the audience to distinguish between true and false.
The heroine Yang Huizhen and Xiucai Gu Shengzhai are the two characters that the film focuses on. Yang Huizhen is open-minded and bold, cold on the outside and hot on the inside, maverick, has a powerful aura on her body, is not angry and arrogant, and makes people dare not make a mistake. This character image is relatively close to that in the novel, and its shortcomings are also more obvious, that is, there is courage and strategy.
And Xiucai Gu Shengzhai just made up for the shortcomings of Yang Huizhen. Compared with Gu Sheng, who appears in the novel, the image of the character Gu Shengzhai is obviously much fuller, and Hu Jinquan gives him more advantages and strengths. In the film, Gu Shengzhai is deeply aware of the great righteousness, although he is weak in fame and fortune and does not want to be an official, he is full of scriptures and has a strategy.
After learning of Yang Huizhen's death, Gu Shengzhai did not choose to retreat, but took the initiative to face it with him. Although Gu Shengzhai did not know martial arts, he was familiar with military books and knew how to use military tactics, and Yang Huizhen and other Haojie also quickly accepted and were willing to obey his orders.
Gu Shengzhai played chess step by step, and finally used a plan to repel Ouyang Nian, besiege Jinyiwei, and capture Anda, achieving a complete victory and avenging Yang Huizhen.
In the film, Gu Shengzhai laughs a lot after the success of the plan, and this moment is his complete catharsis after a long period of depression, and his laughter clearly reveals a sad emotion.
This character is also a portrayal of director Hu Jinquan himself, who regards films as life, and each film is fully committed to doing his best. But for a long time, most of his works have not been understood and appreciated by the world, and the market response is often unsatisfactory.
This also led to a large part of his life spent in order to raise funds to make films, leaving only 16 works, including "nominal" works such as "Laughing proud of the river".
04、
Pi ge is full of admiration for director Hu Jinquan, as the film critics said:
In his films, every shot is a landscape. His use of color, the combination of light and scenery, and the presentation of Chinese culture and art have reached an unprecedented height.
Perhaps truly elegant art is difficult to be universally understood and accepted by the world, so Hu Jinquan's films will always be cold at the box office.
But good works are suitable for calming down and savoring, just like the 3-hour-long "Heroine", only when you enjoy it alone in the dead of night, you can appreciate the thoughts and beliefs carried in it.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: Bloody Dan Heart
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