The latest hot movie is "Crackdown", which was released for 5 days and won 256 million at the box office, breaking the market that has been silent for several weeks.
The scale of the film is amazing, bringing the earth-shattering cases of the past to the big screen, the raw and rough texture, and the fast-paced gunfight action scenes, which are enjoyable.
There are many details hidden in the movie, paying tribute to many hong Kong films of the past, such as in the video hall, Zhong Cheng and Zhang Falcon watch Wu Yusen's "Blood Double Male" and stage a cat and mouse game.
In addition, when "Zhang Falcon" was arrested in the movie theater, It was Lü Liangwei's "Western Chu Bawang" that was screened, which also hinted at the final defeat of the bandits.
Comparatively speaking, many students are familiar with "Blood Twins", and as for the other "Western Chu Overlord", it may be relatively unfamiliar.
In 1994, "The King of Western Chu" was divided into two parts, the upper part was 123 minutes, the lower part was 115 minutes, and the duration of nearly 4 hours was connected, which connected the major events encountered in Xiang Yu's life, such as the breaking of the cauldron, the battle of the giant deer, the feast of the Hongmen Gate, the embattled song, the overlord Bieji, and the self-destruction of Wujiang.
01, the top lineup of co-productions
Co-productions between the mainland and Hong Kong have a long history, dating back to the 1980s, such as "Shaolin Temple", "Hanging Curtains and Listening to The Government", "North and South Shaolin", "Kapok Robes", etc.;
In the 1990s, there were also Xu Ke's "Huang Feihong 3", "New Dragon Gate Inn", Zhang Guorong's "Farewell to the Overlord", Liang Jiahui's "The Heroic Nature of water margin", Zhang Yimou's "Qin Figurines", Xu Anhua's "Half Life", etc.;
More recently, "Operation Mekong", "Mermaid", "Operation Red Sea", "Wise Tiger Mountain", "Journey to the West" and so on.
Among them, "West Chu Bawang" is also a co-production, which was called a "huge production" at that time, and the cast was also a top standard, bringing together a group of outstanding actors from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan Province to create a costume commercial blockbuster.
First of all, director Xian Qiran, one of the representative figures of the "New Wave" of Hong Kong films, later grew into the soul of Debao Film Company, representative works include the "Three-Man World" series, "Rich and Noble Repeatedly Forced", "See the Wrongdoer Again" and so on.
Then supervising producer Zhang Yimou, the film is deeply influenced by his aesthetic style, the use of color and the scheduling of war scenes, it is inevitable to think of his later "Hero" and "Full of Golden Armor";
There are also Qin cavity ancient style songs, the use of props such as 埙, it is estimated that it is also his idea, and this film can also be regarded as a practice in his costume films.
Above the actors, Zhang Fengyi and Gong Li just played the fake overlord and the real couple in "Farewell to the Overlord" in 1993, which caused "Yu Ji" to kill himself; in 1994, the two played Liu Bang and Lü Yan in "The King of Western Chu", forcing the overlord to say goodbye to Ji.
As for Bawang and Yu Ji, there are Lu Liangwei and Guan Zhilin, as well as Fan Zeng of Liu Xun, Zhong Lixuan of Xu Jinjiang, Zhao Gao of Guan Haishan, and Han Xin of Du Shaojin.
The Taiwan provincial side also joined the big coffee, Jin Shijie's Zhang Liang, Wu Xingguo's Yu Ziqi, Zhang Shi's Qin II (Zhao Gao in the TV series "Myth"), Chen Songyong's Fan Duo, Gu Baoming's Chu Huai Wang, and Ye Quanzhen's maid of honor.
There are also many masters in the interior, such as Xiangliang in Yuhai, Xiangzhuang in Xu Xiangdong, and Tian Rong in Yang Fan. It is the gathering of a large number of masters that has achieved such a thick and pathetic epic costume blockbuster.
02, Lü Yan "crush" Xiang Yu
The film is magnificent, the scene is huge, the essence of mainland and Hong Kong films is combined, in addition to the neat historical interpretation style, the depiction of women's status and influence has been added, Chu Fang focuses on Xiang Yu, Han Fang focuses on Lü Yan, and the two promote the development of the plot together.
Perhaps in order to enhance the dramatic conflict, the plot of Lü Yan's "crush" xiang Yu was fabricated in the film, which was also a major controversy at the time. But the benefits of this portrayal highlight Lü Yan's character, cunning and fierce, and there is a sharp contrast with the mighty righteousness of the overlord.
Lü Liangwei's overlord exudes pride between his hands and feet, but his character defects are also more obvious, he acts his own way, the benevolence of a woman, arrogance and conceit, self-restraint, cruelty and killing, all of which lay the groundwork for his later failures, and it is no wonder that His father Fan Zeng will be angry with him and sad for his misfortune.
Look at Gong Li again, the fierceness and momentum of Lü Lu are just right, the early stage is a little interesting to Xiang Yu, the middle stage is framed, and the later stage expresses her love to Xiang Yu, and finally what she can't get, she won't let others get it, but after the death of the overlord, she has a reluctant feeling, this may be the most like the ordinary person's Lü Yan, she has selfish intentions, but she will also be fond of the hero.
She knows very well what she needs, understands that in the chaotic world, only interests are supreme, and sentient beings will only kill themselves, such as the escape section, Liu Bang's mother was held by the pursuing soldiers, she took the knife in her hand and cut the rope, she knew very well, otherwise she could not escape, and would be reduced to the fish meat of the cutting board and slaughtered.
In her eyes, anyone is the object of their own use, the kind Yu Ji is just a means of pulling a relationship with the overlord, Liu Bang is her help to the power, she is an ambitious woman.
03, Gong Li and Guan Zhilin "fought evil", and did not communicate for more than 20 years
In the film, Gong Li is more brilliant, Guan Zhilin is a beautiful vase, but after the two performed "Western Chu Bawang", there was no intersection, why is this?
When the original director Xian Qiran invited Guan Zhilin to participate in "Xichu Bawang", he was not sure what role to play, and after Guan Zhilin later read the script, he felt that Lu Yan was more challenging, so he told the director that he wanted to play this role.
Then after Gong Li joined the crew, she also wanted to play Lu Lu, and under the condition that neither side gave in, director Xian Hadi had no choice but to ask for help from producer Zhang Yimou;
In 1994, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li had not yet broken up, but out of respect for the film and the suitability of the two actresses, he decided to let Gong Li play Lu Yan and Guan Zhilin play Yu Ji. It turns out that Zhang Yimou's eyes are poisonous and he understands what actor is suitable for what role.
But after this incident, Gong Li and Guan Zhilin had a grudge, there was little communication on the set, a shot of the two people needed to be filmed together, Guan Zhilin arrived on the set very early, and Gong Li was late, Guan Zhilin therefore felt that Gong Li deliberately looked for stubble, so she left when Gong Li was not yet present, and the result was that the scene of that day was naturally not filmed.
"Grab" the role of Lu Lu, the two competed on the theme song of the movie "Si Gui Fu", and both wanted to sing. Finally, Zhang Yimou came forward to solve the problem, Gong Li sang the Chinese version, and Guan Zhilin sang the Cantonese version.
After all the above circumstances, Gong Li and Guan Zhilin have since "fought each other", and later Lü Liangwei and Liang Chaowei wanted the two to shake hands and make peace in different ways, but none of them succeeded.
Objectively speaking, Guan Zhilin is indeed not suitable for the "heart machine" Lü Hou, the quiet when the big beauty Yu Ji is very good, there is no half of the charm, and the overlord is tender like water, and Lü Yan is innocent together, which is very in line with the image of Yu Ji portrayed in the whole play.
Since the theme song "Si Gui Fu" is mentioned, it is necessary to mention Huang Xia, which combines Chinese classical music and modern music almost perfectly;
In the movie, it is also just right, when Xiang Yu was surrounded by remnants of soldiers, when "Si Gui Fu" sounded, it revealed the sadness of the general trend everywhere.
"Xi Chu Bawang" was also "untimely" at the time, earning only HK$15.73 million in Hong Kong, and only the best costume design was nominated for the awards.
Mangfu Xiangyu, Adulterous Male Liu Bang, Heart Ji Lü Hou, Vase Yu Ji, each casting is just right, and zhang Yimou's addition also makes the film more ornamental, hanging the later "Hongmen Feast" and "The King's Feast" and the like.
Many people have been asked, do you like Xiang Yu a little more, or Liu Bang?
In fact, most of us can neither become Xiang Yu nor Liu Bang, but only small soldiers and pawns, and it is enough to do ourselves well. (Author: Xiao Xiangzi)