The 38-year-old Xie Miao, with his online movie "No one in sight", set off a martial arts wind in This June.
The film has an investment of only 8 million yuan and a length of only 74 minutes, but after it was launched, it won the high reputation of the audience with its short and concise high quality, iQiyi reached 9.3 points, and nearly 17,000 people on Douban scored 7.1 points, which is not easy.
The film's highest popularity reached 9709.42, the current real-time popularity ranking is still No.1, and the increasing degree of discussion on social platforms also proves that the film's market performance is very good.
Perhaps because we have not seen a martial arts movie worth watching for a long time, when we see that Xie Miao, who has not forgotten his original intention for all these years, finally came up with such a sharp work, he was amazed and could not help but be awe-inspired by his persistence.
Mentioning Xie Miao, we have to mention Shi Xiaolong, who was "extremely popular" in the 90s and shocked the entire Chinese film circle - they have similar growth experiences, and they face the same pressure during the transition, and fans often compare the works of the two at different stages, and compare their development and achievements in the film and television circle.
Now Xie Miao has handed over the "answer sheet" of "No One in sight", but Shi Xiaolong's most recent work is still last year's "Chinese Doctor".
In this main theme movie, Shi Xiaolong only plays a "dragon set" that appears for less than 1 minute, and it is inevitable to think that he has made a lot of efforts for this opportunity to show his face.
One
On May 2, 1984, Xie Miao was born in Beijing to an ordinary family. Because he was active and naughty from an early age, his parents decided to let him learn dance in the Juvenile Palace when he was 7 years old, but he hated to wear tight pants for dancing, so his parents finally signed him up for the martial arts class next to him.
Since then, in addition to studying at the Beilishi Road No. 2 Primary School in Xicheng District, Xie Miao has gone to the Children's Palace to learn martial arts in his spare time.
After practicing for two years, the knives, guns and sticks can play with looks, plus those big eyes that are shining with god, and they are put up in a frame style, as if the young hero Ai Hu in "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness" has descended into the world.
In 1993, Wang Jing received a large order from an investor, asking for a remake of Zhang Che's "Five Ancestors of Shaolin", with only two conditions:
1. Starring Jet Li;
2. Take the Five Ancestors of Shaolin against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty as the story line.
These two conditions gave Wang Jing a lot of problems, at that time, in addition to "double Monday", jet Li was the most famous, and it was not easy to find 4 more people to team up with jet Li.
But Wang Jing is smart, he thought that as long as there is Jet Li anyway, as for the "Five Ancestors", you can find 5 children to play.
So he came to Beijing and wanted to select 5 children from the junior martial arts team of the Children's Palace to play the "Five Ancestors".
Xie Miao, who was only 9 years old at the time, was one of the many children who went to the audition, and Wang Jing saw his skills and temperament at a glance, which was quite similar to Jet Li.
The child character with the most drama in the script was originally Ma Chaoxing in the "Five Ancestors" - he was the son of the rich man Ma Jiashan, who had money at a young age, arrogantly outside, and played with the temper of a child.
Wang Jing tried to let Xie Miao play Ma Chaoxing, but Xie Miao, who had been modest since childhood, was flushed with red face and could not play the appearance of "Little Young Master".
But Wang Jing was determined to praise Xie Miao, because in the script Jet Li played the master brother of the "Ten Tigers of Guangdong", Hong Xiguan, and Wang Jing simply added a role to Xie Miao and let him play Hong Wending, the son of Hong Xiguan.
In this way, Xie Miao, who had just debuted, formed a father-son CP with kung fu superstar Jet Li, and later became Jet Li's dry son.
On the other hand, Shi Xiaolong, who is 4 years younger than Xie Miao, also debuted in the same year.
Born in Henan in 1988, Shi Xiaolong was born into a martial arts family, and soon after he was able to walk, he was sent to the Shaolin Temple by his father Chen Tongshan to learn martial arts, and worshiped the abbot Shi Yongxin as his teacher.
Chen Tongshan is very strict with his son's training, even in winter, he has to get up at 5 o'clock every morning, from morning to night, and his training intensity is no less than that of professional athletes.
There is a documentary called "Shi Xiaolong Chinese Dragon", which records Shi Xiaolong's experience, and it is said that Chen Tongshan himself does not dare to watch it now, and it will be uncomfortable to watch.
After more than two years of "hellish" hard training, Shi Xiaolong has learned a variety of Shaolin stunts such as Shaolin Tong Arm Fist, Drunken Fist, Wuxing Fist, Drunken Sword, and Shaolin Stick before he was 5 years old.
The martial arts team of the Shaolin Temple often has the opportunity to visit and exchange, and Shi Xiaolong is skilled at a young age, which is the signature of the temple, so naturally he wants to go with him.
Shi Xiaolong played with guns and sticks in front of the audience, hit the board with eyes, and had a bright smile on his face, which attracted the attention of the film and television scouts.
Soon, Chen Tongshan signed a contract with Changhong Film and Television, making Shi Xiaolong his artist and letting him participate in "Laughing Forest Boy" directed by Zhu Yanping.
Two
In February 1994, "New Shaolin Five Ancestors" starring Xie Miao was released in Hong Kong;
Two months later, on April 15, "Laughing Forest Boy" starring Lin Zhiying, Shi Xiaolong and Hao Shaowen was released, which marked the birth of two child stars, Xie Miao and Shi Xiaolong.
The story of "New Shaolin Five Ancestors" is still centered on Jet Li (as Hong Xiguan), but Hong Wending, played by Xie Miao, has stolen the limelight, allowing us to see the hidden patience and tenacity of Hong Xiguan and Hong Wending, a father and son who have fallen into distress.
In the literary drama, Hong Xiguan's "people don't talk much", and Hong Wending's childish and pretentious mature dialogue can often create jokes and produce impressive chemical reactions;
In the play, the movements of Semyon and Jet Li are like shadows, and the cooperation is seamless, just like the real father and son, which amazes the audience.
Therefore, Xie Miao can be highly affirmed by fans with this film, and Jet Li himself is also very fond of it.
Because of this, the two later collaborated on "Letter to Daddy", from the Qing Dynasty to modern times, continuing the "father-son relationship" between the two. At that time, the hat of "Jet Li's successor" was silently worn on Semyon's head.
Wang Jing is even more in love with Xie Miao, adding a role to him in "God of Gamblers 2" and creating "Peter Pan" for him.
As Zhang Ailing said: "To be famous early", in Wang Jing's view, since it is red, it is necessary to seize this opportunity to shoot more dramas; Semyon's parents did not think so, and out of consideration for their son's education, they advocated letting Semyon return to school.
In a dilemma, Xie Miao's mother went to Zhou Runfa to give advice, and Zhou Runfa, who had dropped out of school due to family poverty since childhood, also believed that it was important to read, and "I could not lift my head without learning for a lifetime."
So after making 4 movies, Xie Miao returned to Beijing to continue his studies, and Before leaving, Zhou Runfa gave him 5,000 yuan to encourage him.
Unlike Xie Miao, Shi Xiaolong chose another path for him, his father Chen Tongshan.
Filming "Laughing Forest Boy" is more difficult than practicing, because Shi Xiaolong was not yet 5 years old at the time, when shooting dangerous action shots, it is not easy to find a stand-in, but Chen Tongshan is fierce to let him go on his own, often using Weiya to hang in the air for half a day, director Zhu Yanping can't watch it.
Kung Fu pays off, "Laughing Forest Kid" was a box office hit after its release, and Shi Xiaolong quickly became a hot child star in the Chinese film circle.
For comparison, Shi Xiaolong's action performance may not be as dashing as Xie Miao's, but the 5-year-old Shi Xiaolong's image is cute, and there is a sense of a small adult, which is more likable.
Hao Shaowen, who partnered with Shi Xiaolong, was two years younger than Shi Xiaolong, and was discovered for filming a juice advertisement, and formed a CP with Shi Xiaolong, sharing a lot of "performance tasks" for him.
Shi Xiaolong is responsible for playing the play; Hao Shaowen is responsible for funny, which is the foundation for the survival of Zhu Yanping's "Wulongyuan" series.
Throughout the 90s, Shi Xiaolong participated in a total of 10 movies, the audience watched him grow taller, the image became more and more mature, and by 1998's "Rogue Story", he was already a 14-year-old teenager.
Three
In 2000, with the decline of Hong Kong films, Chinese films were hit by an unprecedented impact.
Shi Xiaolong is no longer the "little master" of the year, but with the accumulated popularity for many years, he can still find room for development in the mainland TELEVISION circle, such as playing the young Zhan Zhao in the "Young Bao Qingtian" series.
But child stars face transformation problems as adults, and when you are no longer the "focus", you will start to think about your own life.
Shi Xiaolong, who gradually became independent in life and got rid of his father's shackles, thought of the lessons he had left behind in order to shoot movies over the years. So in 2006, he stopped working and went to New York to study art high school.
However, the film and television circle is changing rapidly, and the adult Shi Xiaolong is not as cute as when he was a child, and his body is a little fat, although he has a "rich resume", but he has no outstanding advantages compared with stars of the same age.
Therefore, his drama path is becoming narrower and narrower, and last year he only acted in a network university "The Legend of Yan Chixia Hunting Demons", and then "Running The Dragon Set" in "Revolutionaries" and "Chinese Doctors".
Although there are still a few works that Shi Xiaolong has not yet released in the future, it is clear that as a kung fu star, he has been a bit lost - he can't get a good role in theatrical blockbusters; Those who can do starring or playing a lot are all small-cost film and television works. Therefore, how to find his correct positioning is a problem that Shi Xiaolong needs to think about.
For Semyon, he also faced the same problem, and when he returned to the film and television industry in 2000, he was in a more difficult situation than Shi Xiaolong.
In 2000's "Daming Palace Words", 16-year-old Xie Miao played the teenager Li Longji, at this time he no longer had the highly recognizable round face of his childhood, replaced by an angular face, which is really not easy to recognize without looking closely.
Xie Miao did not become fat like Shi Xiaolong, but the towering cheekbones made his entire face cold, and he also had a little more sense of the vicissitudes of youth.
Although he launched such masterpieces as the "Legend of Shaolin Temple" series, in the context of the decline of action movies and martial arts films in the film and television circles, Semyon's acting road has also encountered bottlenecks.
But there has always been an innate tenacity in Sem miao's personality, and since 2014, he has been "pushing" in the direction of online movies.
"Journey to the West" with a score of 4.5, "Heroes of Fang Shiyu" with a score of 3.9, "White Night Man" with a score of 3.5, "Wolf Soldier Roar" with a score of 2.8... It can be said that one is more "unbearable" than the other.
But even if it is a shoddy and low-cost bad film, as long as it can continue to act and fight, Semyon is willing to take it - not for anything else, just for the love of the movie in his heart.
So we can see that in the past two years, Semyon has starred in a total of 20 online movies, and this year so far, there are also 4 movies online.
Four
Perhaps it is "providence in the darkness", and the appearance of "No One in sight" has brought Semyon back to our sight. This movie seems to have been born for him, and it is also a portrayal of his 28-year acting career: "No one in sight", regardless of it, only to move forward in the direction of his choice.
The blind man played by Xie Miao in the film is originally a "knife catcher" who makes a living on the knife edge, because he drank a sip of wine from ni Yan, a bartender, and when Ni Yan was insulted, he did not hesitate to draw a knife to get justice for Ni Yan.
Some people say that people like blind people are stupid, but this kind of "stupidity" is exactly the "chivalrous righteousness" that our Chinese sons and daughters remember in their marrow.
The film is only 74 minutes long, but because of this "chivalry", it shoots the long-lost wind bone of our martial arts films.
In terms of action performance, the fist-to-flesh short soldier contact and the perspective rendering of wild storms and snowflakes make the martial arts shots appear simple and sharp.
For the audience who has been devastated by "slow-motion" martial arts in recent years, this realistic action is really shocking!
Looking back on the past few years, we have lost too much, and "No One in sight" allows us to regain the soul of martial arts movies that have long been lost.
Therefore, it was named and publicized by CCTV "CCTV TV series", and was highly recommended by Liu Weiqiang, and since half a month after its launch, it has become a good film for netizens to rush to tell each other.
Semyon was right this time! He found his own direction, and it is also the direction that the martial arts films that "mountains and rivers are falling" should adhere to today. Brother Jia sincerely hopes that he can go down this road, make more good films, and write his own legend.
For Shi Xiaolong, Brother Jia also hopes that he can get out of the confusion as soon as possible, find his own path, and come up with good works in the future to reproduce the glory of the 90s.
(Rotten Tomatoes Movie Editorial Department: Blood Dan Heart)