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Donnie Yen: Do you want to surpass Ip Man, or do you expect another Ip Man?

Donnie Yen created a "Japanese character punch" move in "Ip Man", with his hands alternately punching in front of his chest, fast as a gust of wind. A few years later, he punched Hong with Hong in the movie "Wuxia", making a diagonal punching move, and the audience was excited when they saw it, as if they had recognized some code: This is Ip Man!

"Everyone thinks that everything I play is Ip Man, it's all Wing Chun," Donnie Yen cried and laughed, "It's very inexplicable." ”

For actors, this is a happy annoyance. "Ip Man" became synonymous with Donnie Yen, giving him a solid place in the world of action movies. After the end of the four-part series, people kept asking him to make the fifth part, and he refused, "I think the best thing must have a paragraph, a period." ”

Donnie Yen: Do you want to surpass Ip Man, or do you expect another Ip Man?

Donnie Yen, chief director, producer and starring of "Dragon Babu: The Legend of Qiao Feng". Photo: Courtesy of interviewee

In 2019, "Ip Man 4" was released, Donnie Yen said goodbye to the role that brought him great success, bringing an end to 12 years. In the following years, he tried various roles, some returning, some new attempts, such as the fierce mixed martial arts in "Furious Heavy Case", the kung fu comedy of "Fat Dragon Crossing the River", and the current martial arts action film "Dragon Babu: The Legend of Qiao Feng". On January 21, Chinese New Year's Eve, "Dragon Babu: The Legend of Qiao Feng" was launched on the online platform and was released in Hong Kong theaters two days ago.

After saying goodbye to Ip Man, where is Donnie Yen going?

Wuxia

Filming "The Legend of Qiao Feng" was Wang Jing's idea. Wang Jing and Donnie Yen began to work closely together since 2017's "Chasing the Dragon", and when Wang Jing talked about the project "Dragon Babu", Donnie Yen refused at first, feeling that only TV series can be filmed clearly. Wang Jing asked him to read the novel before speaking.

During a period of isolation in Guangzhou, he opened "Dragon Babu", which began with Duan Yu, and when Qiao Feng appeared, he was attracted and unconsciously committed a "movie disease" - he began to act out the picture in his mind, imagining how to adapt it and how to act himself. On the fifth day of reading, he said to Wang Jing, I think well, I know how to deal with it.

In his conception to tell Qiao Feng's story in two hours, he had to choose the most wonderful passages. For example, the love with Azhu must be there, and the most classic lines must also be left. So the story starts with Qiao Feng being framed by Mrs. Ma and leaving the Gang with grievances, being wronged all the way, killing Azhu by mistake, fighting Duan Zhengchun, and finally fighting Murong Fu, a classic genre film structure. The story ended when Qiao Feng left the Khitan and came to an abrupt end, laying the foreshadowing.

"It's not a remake." Donnie Yen emphasized twice, "Even if you haven't read Jin Yong, it doesn't matter, you can feel that this is a martial arts film." "It's not a remake, which means that it can reduce the burden brought by the original work, leave Qiao Feng's personality charm, extract the plot, retell a story, and create a martial arts world." His involvement went far beyond the starring role, and eventually served as the general director, with overall control. Wang Jing is also happy to give him 100% creative space, "He also knows that I am a filmmaker with ideas, so he plays the role of a producer." ”

Most of the audience watching "The Biography of Qiao Feng" still wants to see how Donnie Yen fights. Of course, the film company also understands that the promotional slogan of the fixed poster is bluntly written: Chinese New Year's Eve, make a good fight. Donnie Yen hopes to bring martial arts back to the basics, filming Qiao Feng's fighting scenes, he wants to present the most original and textured experience. When he hits the eighteen palms of the Falling Dragon, not a single dragon will fly out from behind.

"Shooting a martial arts film, there is no texture of martial arts, that's just shooting MTV, posing a pose, slow motion spinning in the air. This is also a direction that I have seen many film and television works in recent years, I personally don't like this style very much, more and more lack of the texture of martial arts films, just a face-painted world. Donnie Yen told China Newsweek.

Donnie Yen: Do you want to surpass Ip Man, or do you expect another Ip Man?

Donnie Yen, chief director, producer and starring of "Dragon Babu: The Legend of Qiao Feng". Photo: Courtesy of interviewee

turn over

Donnie Yen did not have such a clear understanding of the film from the beginning.

After more than 40 years in the industry, he once looked back on the first 20 years, and did not think about what he was making movies for and what his pursuit was. In those 20 years, his pursuit was to do a good job of the action and shoot more wonderful fight scenes.

At that time, the roles he left the deepest impression on were villains, such as the imperial court minister in "Huang Feihong 2: Men Be Self-Improvement" and the Dongchang Gonggong in "New Dragon Gate Inn". It wasn't until "Kill the Wolf" and "The Fuse" that Donnie Yen finally shined with a positive role, and the mixed martial arts (MMA) style was unleashed. Accustomed to watching the dancing-like martial arts and flying light skills on the screen, at first glance at the fierce and even tyrannical fighting style from fist to flesh, the audience was refreshed, and each punch seemed to hit their own body, as if it was painful. In previous martial arts films, there have never been so many wounds and real physiological reactions.

"What is real? Truth is flawed. For example, if you throw ten punches, the other party will definitely be able to block ten punches, which is impossible. He said, "The real situation, you may not be able to hit, you may not be able to dodge, and even you may be hit, and every move may have some shortcomings." ”

As a teenager, Donnie Yen loved to experiment with various styles of martial arts. When he was 11 years old, his family moved to Boston, USA, where his mother Mak Baochan opened a martial arts gym to teach apprentices, and was selected as one of the top ten martial arts instructors in the American martial arts community. Donnie Yen not only learned his mother's traditional martial arts, but also had an interest in Western martial arts.

Mak Baochan taught a female apprentice, and the younger brother of the female apprentice later worked as a director and martial artist in Hong Kong, and through the introduction of his sister, he discovered Donnie Yen. After an audition, he offered Donnie Yen a contract and signed him for three years. This director is called Yuan Heping.

It was the glory days of Hong Kong action movies, full of opportunities and competition. At that time, there were four famous teams in Hong Kong action films: Sammo Hung's Hung Family Class, Jackie Chan's Cheng Family Class, Lau Kar Leung's Liu Family Class and Yuen Heping's Yuan Family Class. The rules of the rivers and lakes are clear, you can't run around casually, and one year Sammo Hung wanted to find Donnie Yen to act, and he had to say hello to Yuan Heping first.

But opportunities are not equally spread across everyone. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung rely on the ever-growing Jiahe Film Company, and the explosive action movies have been released one after another, occupying almost the entire market. They reversed the audience's preference for action movies, the fashion action film trend came, and "Plan A" and "Food Truck" became box office elixirs. On the other hand, Yuan Heping did not make a movie for three years, and Donnie Yen stopped work for three years. Until Yuen Heping also made the fashion film "SWAT Dragon Slayer", in Hong Kong in 1988, a new style appeared.

Yuan Ping tried hard to turn over the battle, but if he didn't succeed, he really had nothing to eat. But he didn't have as much production money as Jackie Chan and couldn't shoot big scenes. Just didn't know what to do, Donnie Yen said straightly: I thought of it, we don't have money to pile, so we hit personal style. His style is real and stylish, without props, directly into hand-to-hand combat. The art I learned as a teenager came in handy.

This style continued until "Kill the Wolf" nearly 20 years later. The producer asked him what props he needed, he didn't need anything, as long as he fought with Wu Jing and two people, "the style of two people is not what props can make."

After the release of "Kill the Wolf" and the subsequent "Fuse", the Zhen-style martial arts style was officially established, and "fist to meat" became a selling point, and a new trend came.

rival

However, this was not enough, he was still waiting for a role until Ip Man.

In 2009, he opened the "Ip Man" series and created the most successful kung fu film character since Wong Fei Hong. "Ip Man" changes Donnie Yen's image in the audience, he is no longer a tireless martial arts machine, but can also play a flesh-and-blood Confucian martial artist who can tell jokes.

But twelve long years almost exhausted his enthusiasm. When the three films were filmed, the main creators announced that they did not want to continue filming, and it was not until a few years later that they found an entry point and filmed the fourth part and announced the official closure. At that time, someone asked him, what was the state of the last scene after filming "Ip Man 4"? "Relieved." He said.

"Why do people think that I play Ip Man so well, it is also coupled with the director's cooperation and the foreshadowing of the plot, so that everyone is fully engaged in that world, and the characters are successful." For example, I think that there are some works, I actually act quite well, but may not achieve that kind of infectiousness and communication in other aspects, in terms of story, plot, and even opponents, if there is a slight failure to achieve, this character will not jump out. This is also one reason for Ip Man's success. He told China Newsweek.

In front of the camera, he has encountered many powerful opponents, but only two of them let him lift the spirit of twelve.

One is boxing champion Tyson. In "Ip Man 3", Tyson and Donnie Yen were invited to fight, Tyson will not film, so he will not keep his hand, and it is very dangerous if he can't avoid it. Tyson has a hook move, Donnie Yen if he flashes too early, he can't shoot the effect, and if he flashes too late, he is easy to hit the punch. He desperately took the plunge, and at the last moment he dodged, and in an instant, Tyson's fist wind swept in his face, like a large truck rushing towards him.

The other is Jet Li. They have fought many times, and the most classic scene is the decisive battle in "Wong Fei Hung 2". At that time, Tsui Hark found Donnie Yen in order to find the strongest opponent for Jet Li and create the strongest pressure. The two flew around on the bamboo pole, one shot fast, the other faster, if it was half a beat slower, it had to be repeated, and even injured.

Donnie Yen and Jet Li met very early, and in 1982, the two were teammates of the Beijing Wushu team. In 1980, the Beijing wushu team went to Boston, the United States for exchanges, came to the Zhen family's martial arts hall, the leader of the wushu team saw Donnie Yen and said, this child is really good physical, if he comes to Beijing to train, he can also win the championship in China. It may have been a polite remark, but when the young Donnie Yen was too naughty, Mak Baochan remembered the incident again, contacted the leaders of the domestic sports department, and put her son on a plane to Beijing.

Because of his identity as an overseas Chinese, he lived alone in a student hotel, took the No. 113 bus every day and then transferred to Shichahai Sports School for training, which lasted for more than a year. He sat by the window and looked out, there were not a few cars on the road, and the streets were full of bicycles.

Sports school training places great emphasis on physical fitness. The super bounce and speed of the team members, easily churning in the air 360 degrees, made him feel like Superman. After studying for most of the year, he gradually understood the trick: as long as he strengthens his physical fitness, he can achieve the same bouncing and explosive power as gymnastics. "The advantage of modern martial arts taolu training is to improve a person's physical fitness to the best, allowing you to jump the highest, fight the fastest, and improve your speed and explosiveness to the best state." Later, when I made a movie, the advantages of speed, bounce and explosiveness were largely due to my training career in Beijing.

At that time, Jet Li's "Shaolin Temple" had just been released, and although Donnie Yen was on the same team as him, he had only seen him once. Once, Jet Li returned to the team for an interview with a martial arts magazine, and the two took a photo with coach Wu Bin. At that time, Jet Li had just become popular, and Donnie Yen had not yet touched the movie, so he didn't know what he would do in the future. Ten years later, the two met on the set of "Wong Fei Hung 2", the most chivalrous Wong Fei Hung met his most powerful enemy, and the two played tricks on bamboo poles, contributing to one of the most classic decisive battles in the history of Hong Kong action films.

advance guard

Every wedding anniversary and his wife's birthday, Donnie Yen cooks a few dishes, which has become a family routine. He is not a skilled chef, but he understands the basic principles of cooking: "Soy sauce, oil, green onions, sugar, are all the same ingredients, why can sometimes stir-fry a good dish, sometimes it is not good?" He thinks that martial arts films are also like this, "In fact, the elements are all over there, it depends on how you fry them." ”

In the past ten years, Donnie Yen has often filmed in Hollywood and participated in works such as "Rogue One", "Extreme Agent" and "Mulan". In "Rogue One", which is a Star Wars spin-off, he plays a blind monk who is quite brilliant, using Chinese stick art. During this period, the role of the Chinese action master that Hollywood needed was topped by him. He found that Hollywood was always learning the best things in Chinese kung fu movies and stir-frying different dishes.

"If you look carefully, including Marvel and Star Wars, they are full of the Hong Kong martial arts movie styles we accumulated in the early days, such as sharp, urban, fast editing, explosiveness, exaggerated details and so on." "Now they're still using it, and then they're packaged with brand new machines, the latest stunts, and it's their product," he said. ”

Hollywood counterparts told Donnie Yen that they have also studied his works such as "Kill the Wolf" and "The Fuse", how to divide the shots, how to shoot, and how to cut. This has given him more confidence and a sense of purpose: to keep changing and staying avant-garde. "So, I'll always keep shooting my own stuff and make them think I have something new."

However, he is no longer the actor who focused on martial arts in the previous 20 years, and he understands that even in an action movie, martial arts is not the only thing that matters.

"The so-called martial arts design, the difficulty of the movements, for me, these are not the most important. The most important thing is to pull the audience's emotions into my story, if you have synchronized emotions with the characters I play, no matter what moves I play and how I fight, you will be infected by me. Therefore, it is necessary to shape the characters and lay the mood of the story, which will not change. At the end of the day, what is my purpose? It can make you feel the shock and admiration of martial arts. ”

He continued: "You look at when Ip Man is a dozen and ten, because there is foreshadowing in front, you like this person, you sympathize for this person, he has encountered so many (difficulties), you are just as angry as him, and then he shoots and punches, you feel (pain). Qiao Feng was besieged, unreasonable, received a lot of unreasonable accusations, and in the end, for the sake of righteousness, he went out to fight with the world, and you will applaud him. ”

More important than martial arts, it is to bring joy and entertainment to the audience, "this is my ultimate goal". He relaxed his mentality about the film a lot, hoping to infect the audience, and it is better to leave the audience with something worth discussing. Over the years, he has played policemen, gangsters, knights and even the Monkey King, and he no longer cares so much about whether he surpasses anyone and whether he surpasses himself.

Now, is he still expecting another character similar to Ip Man? His answer was detached and honest: "It's hard to say if you want the right time and place." ”

Reporter: Ni Wei

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