The Paper's reporter Chen Chen
The film "Band of Seven", released on July 29, is a tribute to film by seven directors from Hong Kong's Golden Age, namely Hong Jinbao, Hui Anhua, Tam Ka Ming, Yuan Heping, Du Qifeng, Lin Lingdong and Xu Ke. Almost every director with his own style dedicates his own private memories of Hong Kong in his own short chapters.
Seven poster
Hong Jinbao, who is very capable of playing, took the lead among a group of directors, and the opening chapter of "Practice" and the scene of practicing in the 1950s drama class brought the audience to the starting point of the glory and glory of Hong Kong kung fu films. Different from the cool and clever kung fu martial arts films familiar with him, nor is it his signature spiritual funny later, this story about kung fu is simple and solid, and the children who practice on the rooftop still don't know what kind of future awaits them, but in the hard sweat of day after day, there are also the enthusiasm and pain of youth and innocence.
Stills from "Practice"
Hong Jinbao father and son hand in hand
Dream back to youth
Turning over the history of Hong Kong kung fu films, Hong Jinbao is one of the peaks that cannot be avoided, he has served as an actor, director, action director, etc. in the film for 50 years, which has played an important role in the development of kung fu films.
"Practice" is a microcosm of Hong Jinbao's real experience.
At the age of 9, Hong Jinbao was sent by his grandmother to the Peking Opera Class of the China Drama Academy founded by Zhan Yuan to practice martial arts. Because Hong Jinbao was the first to enroll, he naturally became a master brother, and he had a group of famous disciples, the brothers and sisters of the "Yuan" generation, including Jackie Chan (Yuan Lou), Yuan Biao, Yuan Hua, Yuan Kui, Yuan Qiu, Yuan Wu, etc., and later formed the famous "Seven Little Blessings".
Stills from "Seven Little Blessings"
Hong Kong director Luo Qirui, who recently died, shot the movie "Seven Little Blessings" in the 1980s, in which Hong Jinbao played the role of master Yu Zhanyuan and won his first Academy Award for Best Actor.
Drawing lots into the 1950s, corresponding to his own life experience, Hong Jinbao decided to personally recreate the beginning of his kung fu life. "Other directors have filmed our Seven Little Blessings, but I still have memories of my childhood in that era, and I didn't have the opportunity to shoot. Now that I have this opportunity to play freely, I hope to take this opportunity to photograph this past. Hong Jinbao talked about the original intention of this creation.
Because he was a master brother, when the master was away, he was responsible for leading and supervising all the teachers and sisters to practice, but at that time he was only a half-grown child, so it was inevitable that he would be lazy and bad. The various "fancy fish" cheats of that year are vividly displayed in the scene of the movie, under the texture of yellowed film, the rooftop scene of the once practiced is reproduced, and Hong Jinbao takes the audience back to that painful and happy time.
Stills from "Practice". Hong Tianming as Master
"When I was young, I had a good time, but it was also really painful. Master is so strict, so let's figure out how to imitate it as if he is practicing while Master is away. Of course, it was very tragic to be found. I remember the worst time I was punished with a 'top' for an hour and a half, and finally I fell straight off the stool and fell to my head and bled. Of course, there are not too many cases of head breaking and bleeding, but usually there are many such cases of 'flying', and it is good to fly. ”
Now that the years are too old, looking back at the experience of childhood, Hong Jinbao said, "When I was young, I didn't think so much about practicing, Master called practice is practice, and I have eaten all kinds of suffering, and the impact on later life is that I can survive, I can endure hardship, and I am not afraid of any suffering." But if I knew that the process was like this, I would definitely not choose to learn. Because it's too bitter. ”
Compared with the creation of a director or martial artist in a big movie, because kung fu is always associated with a strong plot of the drama genre, Hong Jinbao has little opportunity to make a "literary film" with a soothing rhythm. And the plain expression of "Practice" satisfies Hong Jinbao's wish, "It is true that there is no chance to shoot a literary drama in a pat scene, there will be some regrets, so this is a good opportunity to work with so many small actors to let the audience know that the Hong Kong generation of kung fu people are very strong, Jackie Chan, I, Yuan Biao, Yuan Hua This group of people, originally at such a starting point, experienced." ”
In the film is the story of the inheritance of master-apprentice kung fu, outside the film is a good story of father-son inheritance, Hong Jinbao's son Hong Tianming played Hong Jinbao's master when he was a teenager in the film this time. Hong Jinbao commented on his son, "Very tall, and it is also very majestic after dressing up, I think it is very good to play this master." However, the poisonous-tongued Hong Jinbao, as a director, also bluntly ridiculed, "His domineering spirit is not very enough, not as good as his father and me." ”
Hong Jinbao on the set
Competed in the same game for a lifetime
No need to compare here
The format of "Band of Seven" is that each director shoots a "ten years" and jointly pieces together a game that belongs to Hong Kong-style fireworks. Hong Jinbao is in it, which also represents the mainstream position of the kung fu type that "Oriental Hollywood" once signed.
In order to "not want to study" when he was young, after several years of hard training and study, Hong Jinbao and other forms of Peking Opera improved by adding martial arts elements were highly sought after by the audience and once spread throughout Hong Kong. After that, the art of opera gradually declined, and the martial practitioners of Liyuan also experienced confusion and pain. Relying on his excellent kung fu and hard-working dedication, Hong Jinbao entered the film circle, not only can he act and fight, but also began to emerge in the position of martial arts instructor in his 20s.
Hong Jinbao's "Hung Ka Ban" later became one of the most important martial arts squads in Hong Kong. Different from the stars of another famous "family class", the Hong family class is more like a stage that recruits talents and exhibits their strengths. Lin Zhengying, Wu Ma, Tsang Chi Wai, Qian Jiale and others later became important faces of Hong Kong cinema. Lin Zhengying created a Hong Kong zombie film with "Ghost Fighting Ghosts", "Miscellaneous Family Boy" and "Loser Boy" tailored for Yuan Biao, and "Noon Horse" also became popular after joining the Hong family class. In the 1980s, Hong Jinbao as a producer, Hong Jia class member Xu Guanwei directed "Mr. Zombie" set off a boom in psychic kung fu comedy films, from 1986 to 1991, Hong Kong and Taiwan shot more than 100 psychic movies about zombies, but none of them could surpass the glory of "Mr. Zombie", and psychic comedy also became Hong Jinbao's "signature kung fu" for a period of time.
Stills from "Mr. Zombie"
"I opened the Hongjia class, and I have always told everyone that you can do whatever you want, and if you have any expertise, you can play to it, and everyone will eat according to their abilities." If you want to develop in other directions, I support you, you have to fight, you have to be lazy or mixed, it is your own choice. This is no longer a childhood practice, I am not a master like Yu Zhanyuan, as long as I am serious about the work, others, I hope that everyone has a broader road. ”
Hong Jia class out of talent, many people later became directors, action directors, Hong Jinbao talked about the results of the Hong family class, pride also with a little helplessness, "I said to them very early, you think well, your own future road, do you want to do martial arts all your life? This is impossible, martial arts is a bowl of youth rice, can you fight for a lifetime? ”
"Practice" unit work photos
The reporter asked rhetorically, didn't you fight for a lifetime yourself? Hit to 70 years old.
Hong Jinbao laughed, "Then can I be the same?" I am a martial arts star eh, I am the best martial arts finger, I am the most powerful and flexible fat man in the world! So there have always been audiences who want to watch me play, and I have my signboard. However, ordinary martial arts can not do so long, many people will leave the film industry in the future, may only have to drive taxis. ”
This time, Hong Jinbao filmed "Practice", personally guided a group of martial arts actors, and he also showed kindness and heartache in the face of the children practicing martial arts today. "They're already rare. They've never done filming, and they don't know what it's like to shoot a scene. I told them to fight, flip, do a lot of things that hurt, they didn't say anything, it was really rare. But they are very different from when I was a child, and now the children who practice martial arts do not know where the future lies, and there is no such concept as becoming a kung fu star. But this is a bit similar to our practice when we were young, at that time we were in the drama class, we felt that we had to sing, which knew that there was no drama to sing later, people asked if they wanted to come to the set, then go to filming. Maybe they will have a new way out in the future, and I really hope that kung fu will be passed on, but this is a difficult thing. ”
"Band of Seven" has been released since its debut in Cannes in 2020 and is now released, and fans who have seen the film will more or less discuss the preferences of each director's short film in their minds. Asked if he would feel a little "competing in the same field", Hong Jinbao said, "There is no existence, our generation has been competing in the same field for a lifetime." When we were young, we were 'fighting' every time a movie was released, compared to the box office, than the kung fu moves, when shooting, we were also competing, there was competition, and we all wanted to do something different. At that time, there was a lot of pressure, everyone was innovating, there were so many plays to open, and if you didn't come up with something new, you would be compared, and maybe others wouldn't give you money. Now that I'm old, I can't compete in such a short film. Everyone will shoot some things they want to shoot together, and people will invite you to be an honor, and they will be very happy. ”
Source: The Paper