In 1994, Zhou Xingchi spent 60 million yuan to shoot "Journey to the West", and took out 800,000 yuan from it to ask Zhao Jiping to compose music, Zhao Jiping said: "Composing music can be done, but I have a request, do not put my name at the end of the film, I am afraid of ruining my reputation." ”
At that time, when filming "Journey to the West", when the theme song was assigned to the film, Zhou Xingchi heard that there was a very powerful composer in the mainland, named Zhao Jiping, Chen Kaige's "Yellow Land" and Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum", all of which were written by Zhao Jiping.
Therefore, Zhou Xingchi found Zhao Jiping with 800,000 yuan and full of sincerity.
As soon as Zhao Jiping read the script, his head grew bigger at that time: "No wonder they all say that you don't know what this drama is, even I can't understand what this script is writing, I can't take this job." ”
Later, under the persuasion of Wu Tianming, Zhao Jiping reluctantly agreed to compose music for "Journey to the West".
In order to understand the play in depth and find inspiration for the composition, Zhao Jiping also personally went to the studio built in the West Film Studio, who knew that when he pushed open the door, he found himself entering the belly of the Bull Demon King, which was full of various disgusting props. It turned out that the crew was filming a fight scene in the belly of the Bull Demon King.
So Zhao Jiping, who did not conspire with each other, finished composing the song and left in a hurry. And made a request: "Don't sign my name in the film, I can't afford to lose this person." In this way, the film was finally filmed in a stumbling block.
Zhao Jiping also did not expect that his soundtrack for the film, "Reeds", was actually regarded as a classic by countless fans.
At the end of the film, the Sunset Samurai and the Purple Xia Fairy have a dialogue on the city wall.
"That guy looks weird."
"I saw it too, and he looked like a dog."
As the Supreme Treasure silently turned around and stepped onto the vast desert, the song of "Love of a Lifetime" sounded, and this sad and helpless song echoed in the leisurely world.
Many viewers sighed, watching the first time, thinking it was a comedy, watching the second time it turned out to be a tragedy, and when they watched it again, they understood that it was life.
Young people do not understand is infatuation, middle age understands the vicissitudes.
When I watched "Journey to the West" when I was young, I didn't know the magic of that look of ten thousand years, and I didn't care about the pain of losing my beloved. After all, when we are young, we think that we have more time to squander, and there are opportunities to keep, but we do not know that some things will never be regained if they are lost.
Supreme Treasure finally understood that he wanted to protect Zixia, but he did not have the ability, when he put on the tight hoop, he had the ability to protect Zixia, but he had to pay the price for losing the ability to love, and finally doomed the Supreme Treasure to lose Zixia.
When you are young, you meet your beloved, you want to give her happiness, but you have no ability, when you have the ability to give her happiness, the beloved person can only leave you.
This is the truth of life, when you reach middle age, you wake up to its cruelty. How solipsistic I once was about love, how remorseful I am now. This is the helplessness and confession of a middle-aged man after shouldering a heavy responsibility.
The transformation of the Supreme Treasure to Sun Wukong is the process of a person's slow growth, he has reined in debauchery, let go of love and hate, this is a painful process, and there is too much helplessness in between.
Perhaps the ideological connotation that the film wants to express is too advanced, after the release of "Journey to the West", the box office failed miserably, and the investment of 60 million yuan was lost, which directly led to the bankruptcy of the just established Caixing Film Company.
What everyone did not expect was that a few years later, the rise of the Internet, almost overnight, "Journey to the West" caught fire on the campuses of mainland universities, and almost all the forums and chat rooms at that time were about the topic of Supreme Treasure and Zixia.
Subsequently, the plot of this film, together with Zhou Xingchi's funny and nonsensical lines, quickly spread like a virus throughout the Network at that time. As "Journey to the West" swept the Internet, critics also began to reinterpret it, giving it more connotations.
"Journey to the West" has since become a representative of postmodern films, and finally was directly canonized, and Zhou Xingchi was also called "Star Ye", and many viewers said that because of "Journey to the West", Xing ye owed a movie ticket.
There are also many behind-the-scenes anecdotes in "Journey to the West", Liu Zhenwei personally made a cameo appearance as the director of "Journey to the West", and then let the assistant director Jiang Youcheng play the "blind man" who likes to peek at men taking a bath in "Moonlight Treasure Box". Jiang Youcheng did not want to participate at that time, Liu Zhenwei overlord the bow, My director has played grapes, why can't you play the blind man? So Jiang Youcheng starred as the "blind" sand monk in the film.
Playing the Bull Devil King in the film is Lu Shuming, who once played Guan Yu in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and Zhao Jiping, because he could not understand the plot of the film, after filming, Lu Shuming also put forward the same requirements as Zhao Jiping, "You must not add my name at the end of the movie, I can't afford to lose this person." ”
In the film, zixia fairy and pig eight precepts have exchanged body plots, and the eight precepts of pigs in the film are indeed zhu Yin's cameo.
The location of the film was selected in the Zhenbeibao Film and Television City in Yinchuan, Ningxia, and I did not expect that after the popularity of "Journey to the West", the Zhenbeibao Film and Television City was blessed by misfortune and became a famous tourist attraction, and the Internet celebrity punch card holy land. Nowadays, as long as you arrive at zhenbeibao Film and Television City, you can hear the familiar "Love of a Lifetime".
In 2017, "Journey to the West" was re-released in mainland theaters, with a box office of over 100 million in just 4 days, which is very rare in re-screening films. In the old re-screening, the originally deleted 11-minute plot finally met with the audience.
There is a scene that is not in the original version, when the Zixia Fairy is waiting for the Supreme Treasure, because of boredom and loneliness, the Zixia Fairy remembers the bits and pieces with the Supreme Treasure, especially the scene of learning to bark the dog, which is a true portrayal of the real lover, and people can't help but cry.
I still remember the classic line of the Supreme Treasure to the Purple Xia Fairy in "Journey to the West":
There was once a sincere love in front of my eyes, but I did not cherish, until I lost, I regretted it, the most painful thing in the world is this, if heaven can give me another chance, I will say three words to the girl, I love you, if you have to add a deadline in this love, I hope it is ten thousand years.
