Wu Yujie / Text
Abstract: The traditional Chinese concept of martial arts is the chivalrous heroic concept of eliminating violence and promoting goodness, while Xu Haofeng's films mostly study the martial arts world of the Republic of China, and "The Arrow Liu Bai Ape" (hereinafter referred to as "Arrow") and "Master" (hereinafter referred to as "Master") are all martial artists who took place in the Republic of China. Wuxia films should be sensitive to the "look" of Chinese, retaining some traditional Chinese lifestyles. Fear of disappearing "like" should be the fear of martial arts films. 1 From the beginning of "The Trail of Wu Kou", Xu Haofeng formulated a set of rules for his martial arts world. The social turmoil in the Republic of China is the beginning of the collapse of Li Le, self-denial, and adherence to the inheritance of rules that he believes. Martial arts itself is a culture, and culture has an impact on people, it is not difficult to see that Xu Haofeng has the ambition to open up a different world from the traditional martial arts world and become a school of his own.
Keywords: rules; restraint and resistance; integrity
Republic of China "Utopia"
Before Xu Haofeng made films, as a novelist, he created a new genre - wuxing novels. Both Arrow and Shi are adapted from his collection of short stories, Hidden behind the Knife, in which there are no martial artists, no heroes, no villains, only warriors and martial arts. There is no romantic chivalrous culture, the characters are the warriors of the small people, the true form and dignity of martial arts as an industry, the storyline has a wealth of historical allusions, and the martial arts embody his understanding of Confucian and Taoist culture. Use Taoist culture to look at martial arts rules, and use martial arts rules to reflect social conditions.
Due to foreign aggression, the Republic of China passively accepted Western culture, and thousands of years of traditional culture absorbed Western etiquette culture at a loss. For example, Xu Ke's "Huang Feihong" series has a large number of conflicts between Eastern and Western cultures, in order to cater to the audience's psychology, Oriental Kung Fu must defeat guns and ammunition. This kind of self-consolation psychology and jealousy of guns and ammunition is the routine of our martial arts films all along.
The Republic of China Wulin created by Xu Haofeng always has its own rules, and he is not quite like the traditional martial arts films that focus on the rise and fall of the country and the great righteousness of the nation, but only belongs to his own Republic of China wulin setting. For example, in "Arrow", Kuang Yimin's last thing is very lonely, according to the general martial arts film is to return to the hidden mountain forest, but Xu Haofeng sets Kuang Yimin and Liu Bai Ape to fight the last battle. Geng Liangchen in "Shi" is unwilling to leave Tianjin because his family is in Tianjin. These seemingly weak insistences represent Xu Haofeng's own values.
In the collision of traditional Chinese culture and modern society, the warriors insisted until the last moment, "Arrow" filmed the absolute sound of cold weapons, as long as the hot weapons came out, the cold weapons withdrew, and a generation of masters Kuang Yimin finally lost under the guns.
"Arrow" and "Shi" are two small characters who enter the Republic of China society of warlord chaos, Chen Zhi in "Shi" to realize his ideal of the founding sect, and Liu Bai Ape in "Arrow" is the solver of the order in the chaotic martial forest, fighting against everyone in the rules. In the face of guns and hot weapons, Liu Bai Ape's arrow represents the observance of rules, Kuang Yimin's gun represents the desire to inherit, Liu Bai Ape loses emotion, and Kuang Yimin loses career. The duel between arrows and guns is eliminated by the times, and the traditional old society with only cold weapons rules is nostalgic.
How do people with traditional culture face the influx of Western culture? In the era of the Republic of China, when liturgy collapsed, because traditional culture was declining and national pride was declining, self-denial and regalia were restored to maintain their identity. For example, there is a ceremony before the kicking competition in "Division", and in the face of the collapse of a class, Chen Zhi still obeys the rules to open the museum.
"Shi" is the story of the ideal country, this Republic of China talks about rules, everything is in order, this is the society that Xu Haofeng yearns for. The use of several forces such as foot travel, military circles, and martial arts constitutes the social situation of the Republic of China, and the interests of individuals constitute a society that is ultimately helpless. Each line has its own rules and strictly abides by it, for example, the rule of the foot line is that there is no iron in the weapon and does not hurt people, and Geng Liangchen cannot help if he is not a foot line.
Whether it is "Arrow" or "Shi", they are saying that the Republic of China is a society with rules, even if the lile collapses, the martial artists are still adhering to the liturgy. Li le is the rules of receiving people and things and the exquisiteness of life, which are exactly the things that are despised in the history of martial arts films. 2 The martial arts in "Arrow" and "Division" are not anti-physical martial arts, and indeed they are not as beautiful as Xu Ke's, and many of the martial arts actions designed by Xu Haofeng are not beautiful, but have authenticity and practical combat value. The martial arts he designed is a one-move kill, no stunts, no Wia, no stand-ins, and even Jin Shijie, who played Zheng Shan'ao in "Shi", is more than 70 years old and personally fights. Xu Haofeng is not only exquisite in the movie, but also when making the movie.
Xu Haofeng never linked the martial arts society of the Republic of China with the promotion of national spirit and patriotism, but returned martial arts to martial arts. The same is the close combat, different from the Punch and Kick Hong Kong martial arts film, Xu Haofeng's action design is mainly based on weapons. The real martial arts don't have cornices and are a bit like kung fu films, but his martial arts are even less beautiful. The martial arts victory before the long lane was in one or two moves, and the deliberate design of the long lane was also a scene not found in his original short story. Because there is a round between the design of the long lane to avoid, the excitement of the battle of the long lane is also based on reasonableness. In the Battle of Long Lane, Chen Zhi can get his weapons every time he defeats a person, and these rules are set by himself, which is different from the audience's existing experience, so that the audience can believe in the social appearance of the Republic of China he has built.
Meng Yunfei inscribed Taiji Culture Research Institute
Explicit rules and unspoken rules
In the era of the Republic of China, when Li le collapsed, various forces such as individuals and individuals, groups and groups, and individuals and groups would form conflicts. When encountering conflict, it is necessary to be familiar with the clear rules and unspoken rules, and resist in restraint and restraint in resistance. Man's contradictions hesitate in the process of occurrence, forming the ultimate fate.
Xu Haofeng's two films are set in the early Republic of China, when the martial arts all had hot weapons such as guns. Xu Haofeng used a long shot of the middle panorama to shoot martial arts scenes, and he hated Xu Ke's rapid editing and dynamic processing methods, using so-called divine skills to eliminate guns, although creating visual spectacles, but unrealistic. The emergence of hot weapons is a great reduction in the practical value of martial arts. The traditional martial arts rules are incompatible with sticking to one's own ideals, and you can no longer use clear rules to achieve your ideals, but can only use the wisdom of unspoken rules. Liu Bai Ape and Chen Zhi were like this, they constantly balanced between restraint and resistance, and finally formed a look of no sorrow or joy.
Adhering to the rules is a kind of Republic of China martial arts concept that belongs to Xu Haofeng, and we see both the value of the rules and the valuelessness of the rules.
The tone of "Arrow" at the beginning is the sense of ruin of the dead vines and old trees, which hints at the current situation of the martial forest and echoes the years of the Republic of China when the cold weapons will withdraw. There are several empty shots that have a kind of confusion of the warrior in the chaotic world, that everyone is a pawn. Liu Bai Ape went down the mountain to enter the world and become a man again, but he never forgot the past, and found his heart and freedom in a long period of self-resistance.
Xu Haofeng's Republic of China society is full of rules of restraint, but there is always a bad taste for resistance. Xu Haofeng's Republic of China is an era full of possibilities, and no end will be abrupt in his films. In "Shi", Zheng Shan'ao took Chen Zhi to see the dancing White Russian woman, and finally failed without dignity, did not get angry, but married a White Russian woman to brazil to grow cocoa. Although the process is not decent, it can also be regarded as a decent departure, which is also an unspoken rule.
His films all have the presence of mixed-race or foreign women, erdong in "Arrow", tea girls and White Russian women in "Division", and he establishes the concept of elitism equivalent to the "concept of mixed race". A well-developed society is like a good breed of mixed races, and it is well known that mixed races are beautiful because of interracial marriages. An open, excellent society needs to accommodate some people who are not accepted by the mainstream, and the republic's resistance and innovation in the rules is to accept dissidents, without judging so many so-called heretics.
Chen Zhi in "Shi" went north to open a martial arts hall, but the Ming rules did not work. For the martial arts of Tianjin, it is heresy, and the acceptance of the martial arts of the northern school of martial arts to the martial arts of the southern school is the process of heresy into the mainstream of Tianjin. It is not only a battle in martial arts, but also a personnel game, which must follow the rules of Tianjin Wulin. The final outcome of the game is not the best of both worlds, but a step back. Only compromise can be accommodated according to the rules, and Tianjin Wulin finally gave Chen Zhi the choice of "you can open a martial arts hall, but the apprentice will leave Tianjin." Saving face as a punishment is the process of mainstream society accepting dissidents, and it is inevitable to resist in restraint, and we must act according to the rules. If Chen Zhi wanted to open a martial arts hall, he would definitely enter the system of Tianjin's martial arts circle, and how to enter the system was a means of unspoken rules.
Xu Haofeng's Republic of China relies on constant restraint and resistance, has its own unspoken rules, and its spiritual outlook is different from now. It is impossible to know whether this is the real Republic of China Martial Forest, he is building his own martial arts world based on his understanding of the real Republic of China Martial Forest. Xu Haofeng is not a completely real martial artist, he just creates a real state to borrow the ancient metaphor of the present, thinking that contemporary society is also the collapse of Li Le, but there is no li Le rules. For example, in the film industry, most people only know how to speculate on the market, and not many people pay attention to the film itself, and they should learn from the Republic of China era in the movie to raise the rules of personnel to the philosophical level and imperceptibly modern life. Xu Haofeng photographed what he thought was the real martial arts, and his set of rules was placed in what era and industry, paying attention to universal cultural values.
The sense of proportion of traditional culture
Xu Haofeng tries to deconstruct the cultural history of modern times through the martial arts culture of the Republic of China, whether it is a novel or a movie, it revolves around the structure of the Republic of China's wulin, borrowing the integrity and fate of the martial people, looking at life in martial arts, looking at martial arts in life, and expounding his understanding of Confucian and Taoist culture with martial arts. Confucian and Taoist culture refers to the combination of Confucian culture, Buddhist culture and Taoist culture, the core of which is lunchang, life and salvation, and its propositions are to practice ideals, advocate birth, and enter the world by avoiding the world. Xu Haofeng was extremely distrustful of human nature, and the boundaries of the Republic of China's martial arts were the mastery of a sense of proportion.
Xu Haofeng's transition from "The Trail of Wokou" to "Shi" is for commercialization and market-oriented compromise, but the measure lies in respecting the rules and maintaining integrity. It is not the old rules that are passed down, but the integrity. How to establish new rules into traditions, need to give birth to generation after generation of willow white apes, need to want to open the sect of Chen Zhi, the protagonists of the new era and the protagonists of the old era have the same integrity, this integrity will not change with the different times, first break the rules and then establish a discipline, in different eras to master how to use the traditional culture of the sense of proportion.
exegesis:
1.Xu Haofeng. Knife and Star (Xu Haofeng Film Review Collection)[M].World Book Publishing Company Beijing Company, 2012:10-23.
2.Xu Haofeng. Knife and Star (Xu Haofeng Film Review Collection)[M].World Book Publishing Company Beijing Company, 2012:10-23.
(Meng Yunfei transferred from Popular Literature and Art, No. 5, 2018)