Shaolin Soccer
(English: Shaolin Soccer)
This film is a Hong Kong sports film released in 2001, directed by Stephen Chow, executive director Lee Li-chi, co-written by Stephen Chow and Tsang Kin-cheung, and directed by Cheng Xiaodong.
"Shaolin Soccer" has grossed about $50 million worldwide and is the first Stephen Chow movie to be released on a large scale in Europe. The film still holds the record for the highest box office of a Chinese film in Italy: 1,685,758 euros, and is also the most replayed Stephen Chow film in Europe. European countries that have repeatedly replayed "Shaolin Soccer" include Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Hungary, Spain and so on. This film is a reference to the Japanese robot anime "Wind Invincible Silver Fortress" and the Japanese manga "Soccer Boy".
"Shaolin Soccer" adheres to the consistent quality of Stephen Chow's films, and the replay rate is very high.
1. Synopsis
Twenty years ago, mingfeng (Pu Yedong), a footballer known as the "golden right foot", was killed by the design of teammate Qiang Xiong (Zhang Mingming), and in an important game, he lost a twelve-yard shot, which not only discredited the ground, but also broke his right foot. Ming Feng lost his confidence and ended up on the streets, while Qiang Xiong has since had a smooth sailing and has become a hero in football.
Twenty years later, Ming Feng (Wu Mengda) accidentally met Xingxing (Zhou Xingchi), who made a living by scavenging for a living, had an optimistic personality, and was extremely obsessed with martial arts, accidentally discovered his amazing foot strength, and with his professional vision, he believed that Xingxing had a talent for football, so Mingfeng lobbied Xingxing to play football and participate in the National Super Cup football competition.
In order to increase the strength of the team and promote Shaolin martial arts, The Star Lobbying Class of Brothers who had studied martial arts at the Shaolin Temple competed together and became a complete "Shaolin Team". In addition, Ah Mei (Zhao Wei), who uses Tai Chi Kung Fu to make steamed buns, lingxing admires and becomes a good friend. The Shaolin team passed the national competition and successfully reached the final, and the strongest opponent they faced was the "devil team" led by Ming Feng's old enemy Qiang Xiong (Xie Xian). The Devils team trained with high technology and took illegal drugs to become a veritable killer without blinking, the Shaolin team not only had to fight, but the team members were seriously injured one by one by the "killing shot" and faced a fiasco. An unexpected person suddenly appeared.
2. Reasons for banning the mainland
Since the release of "Shaolin Soccer", both word of mouth and box office have risen steadily, and Xingye, who is a combination of the film's boss, director and actor, has earlier set up a celebration banquet to comfort a group of people in front of the stage and behind the scenes; however, in the end, because of the violation of China's "National Film Management Regulations", he sneaked to Hong Kong for the premiere before receiving the relevant broadcast approval.
Although "Shaolin Soccer" was produced by Xinghui Company, which is invested by Xingye, there are also two mainland Pearl River Films and China Film Companies that co-produce, and according to China's National Film Administration Regulations, all films screened in Chinese mainland or produced by mainland film institutions must be reviewed by the National Film Administration before they can be released.
In other words, "Shaolin Soccer" should theoretically pass the censorship of the Film Bureau before it can be released; but since the title of "Shao" was controversial in the mainland, the Film Bureau used the title to influence the religious feelings of Buddhists and the seriousness of the Millennium Shaolin Temple, so it was hoped that Xinghui could change the title, but Xinghui Company has always emphasized that "the title is approved by the above" and refused to change it.
Before the screening, Xinghui also sued the Chinese Film Co-production Company, one of the co-production companies, to the National Copyright Administration due to the title dispute, and since the National Copyright Administration had not yet made a ruling on this lawsuit, the National Film Administration could not accept the request of Xinghui Company for trial.
Zhou Jiandong, director of the Film Bureau's Production Department, said that "Shaolin Football" was released in Hong Kong on July 8 without sending it to the National Film Bureau for review, which seriously violated the provisions of the "Ordinance".